Discovering Fire
by AiriiSpade
Summary: <html><head></head>Sector 7 has always been secretive of their work, but what happens when their last living experiment interferes with the torture and experimentation of Bumblebee at the dam? Utter chaos at the very least.</html>
1. Prequel

A/N:

Hi Everyone! If you are reading this, then I must thank you for checking my story out. This is my first fanfiction, my first story, ever, so please give me feedback! I want to improve my writing as much as possible :)

This idea has been bugging me for over a month now, so I have finally decided to write what has been haunting me in my sleep. As this is my first story, my updates may be random, but I promise I will try to finish what I've started - I'm hoping to follow this story through to the end. Please let me know if you find any mistakes, typos, or inconsistencies in my writing - I've proof-read it myself, but as I know what I want to be there, or what should be there, I may miss a few things. ;)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS, IT'S PLOT, etc. I do claim ownership of my character, my character's family, and the plot that will be in this story (I'm talking about my own plot, not the Transformers' plot, though that will be very tied into my story, but once more, I do not own THAT.)

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><p><span>Discovering fire<span>

Prequel

_They were dragging her once more to another location, tugging on the chains that bound her ankles, wrists, waist, and neck – __**they **__had stopped taking such risqué chances long ago, just as she now knows to not fight at every given moment as it just leads to more pain. Four guards surrounded her, two in the front holding her ankle and wrist chains and two in the back holding her neck and waist. _

_The chains rubbed against her scabbing wounds, the scab on her neck breaking and releasing fresh blood to flow down her torso from the harsh treatment of her 'guards'. Observing the white-coats walking far in-front of her through golden slits, she focused her sensitive ears on their whispered discussion and immediately regretted it, freezing at the implication of what was said._

_The short, balding white coat spoke with an enthusiastic air about him, explaining to the tall, dark, and creepy white coat of a new specimen being brought in – 'it' was apparently already on route. An NBE of similar technology, structure, and race as NBE-1 the short white coat reported. Mr. Creepy white coat questioned how many men were lost acquiring the new specimen only for both the girl in chains and the tall white coat to be shocked at the answer – no lives were lost. The chained girl listened with rapt attention, hearing of two teenagers whom have had contact with the NBE, a hacker, a pentagon analyst, and the Secretary of Defense also on route. _

"_**A1R1, Keep Moving!"**__ A1R1 was all the girl was called by around here; no one ever called her given name except the girl herself in an effort to remember. Her records had been destroyed years ago when her twin and she were first kidnapped._

"_**A1R1!"**__ Her guards gave a sharp tug to her chains, a tug that in the past would have had her introducing her face to the floor though that did not stop the pain from erupting on her neck. Her idiot guard's call attracted the attention of the white coats, their conversation cutting off at 'He's here!' At that last whispered comment the girl's hands became encased in a pale green fire, her eyes narrowed at the unrestrained glee in the white coats' eyes and expressions. They were ready to torture and experiment on yet another innocent being, a metal giant that has shown an enormous amount restraint not to harm anyone even though it has every right to defend itself? No. Not again. Why must they always hurt the innocent ones? The one in the freezer can stay frozen – it has an aura that speaks of a bloodthirsty nature that is suffocating to be near, but the one they just captured didn't fight back at all, no injuries or death to the humans. That speaks of a kind, protective, intelligent being, not something that needs to be freaking tortured!_

"_**A1R1, STAND DOWN!" **__Did the guards and scientists think her stupid? Were they themselves stupid? Has she ever attacked them with her fire if not to defend her twin brother? Sure, she'll scorch them should they cross some type of boundary with her, and on occasion she will threaten them to leave her alone, but she has never just walked up and burned them to death. No, even if they deserve death, she will not stoop down to their level to send them to their final resting place. Her twin's death was the only time she lost control of her flames, but that was enough to make them wary of her. _

_-__**Dearest, you did end up destroying three hallways, one hanger, a few million dollars in specialized equipment, and about thirty-seven or so lives were taken all with that little lost control- **__-…Okay, so they may have a good reason to fear my fire- A fading laughter receded from her mind leaving behind a welcome warmth in the wake of such saddening news: another living experiment._

_A cruel tug from the guard holding the chains immobilizing her wrists and arms brought experiment A1R1 to her already bruised knees. Her head lowered, she observed the metal cuffs that surrounded her arms from the elbow to the wrist, the cuffs chained together in the center to keep her range of motion limited, her clenched hands still surrounded by the pale green lights. She kept her head lowered and let the warmth heating her cold, chilled hands fade as she heard heavy footfalls; the scent of dried blood and chemicals belonging to the tall and spine-chilling scientist entered her nose as he approached her hunched, beaten form. _

_An unpleasantly cold hand gripped her chin forcing her head up, her crimson mane of hair falling over her shoulder to rest against her stomach. Her golden eyes met and challenged the man's own dark ones that questioned why this 'demon' still refused to cooperate and work with them._

"_Why?" It was a question with many different meanings and many different answers. It was a question asked in a clipped manner from a scientist that had played a part in the team's effort to break her and her twin. It was a question as to why she did not just kill them for all the hell they've put her through. It was a question as to why she wouldn't just become their weapon and end her own suffering. It was a question of why she has not given up. It was a question she refused to ever answer for these lowlifes. _

_A1R1 just stared at him, meeting his gaze without flinching. The scientist just let out a sigh and stood, bringing her with him to her feet, before turning and rejoining his college, motioning for the guards to follow with her in-tow. As they all walked through the corridor, the girl's eyes rested on the backs of the two scientists. It would be so easy to send a spear of fire through their hearts, snuffing the life out of their cold eyes, but that would be exactly what they want – for her to become a killer. She refused, on behalf of her little twin brother who was killed, on behalf of her parents and grandmother that had been murdered before her young eyes, on behalf of all the other experiments who were killed or just died through the experimentation process, and their families whom were either killed or lied to – no, she refused to become a killer. She may be a predator, but she would not become a mindless killer as __**they**__ wished her to become. She is a protector, a healer, and to __**that Presence**__, a life-giver and friend._

_The pace of the two scientists soon turned frantic, almost turning to a run with the guards pulling at A1R1 to hurry and enter the hanger that the scientists just turned into. Even before they entered the room, her sensitive ears picked up on a heart-wrenching sound, a painful cry mechanical in nature, but the call behind the cry was the same regardless of species or the fact it was an alien. It was a cry echoed inside her, the meaning not lost, and the acknowledged call for 'help' had been heard. A1R1 turned into the room and witnessed a mechanical being withering trying to escape the cold blasts from the scientists' freezing machines. Cries of pain came from the little yellow bot due to devices poking around and trying to open up the chest piece. Baby-blue optics began dimming in panic and dismay as the small bot tried to avoid the prodding of __**his **__chest even as his arms and legs were secured with heavy wires. The shear amount of __**emotion**__ coming from that yellow bot was almost enough to knock A1R1 over; the rage, the humiliation, the panic, the __**fear**__, the worry for others not himself, and the dying hope were all visible to her eyes, which noticed the bot's personality lying beneath the raging emotions revealing to her a protective, honorable, and loyal being – and her eyes never lie, they always see the truth in a situation, her ears always hear the truth – one cannot lie to A1R1. As her eyes and ears witnessed the truth, she came to a decision. Her memory replayed the words of teens coming – they would be here soon, but not soon enough to prevent this being from being unjustly tortured._

_Her voice had not been used for over six months – there had been no reason to speak, no reason to cry, no reason to whine to her jailers. Now however, she had a reason to find her voice. She had a reason to ensure she was not misunderstood. She had reason to use the fear these people had of her to good use. One word was all it took to carry across and silence the room. It only took one word to divert everyone's attention to her. It only took one word to get those panicked blue optics to rest on her bloodied, beaten figure. Just one word…_

"_**Enough!"**_

_The green fire surrounding her entire figure and the heat wave it released when she spoke may have also played a good part in the reason for the room's silence._


	2. Chapter 1

A/N

Hi Again! Thank you so much everyone for reading my story, hopefully this chapter will show more of my writing style and you guys will enjoy it. If there are any questions about my story, my character, or my writing that doesn't make sense, please feel free to ask me. As this is my first story, questions may arise and inconsistencies may found in my writing. If something is found, please let me know. If there is something about my writing that you like, once more, please let me know. Feedback helps me grow as a writer, and if I know both what I'm doing right and wrong, it will balance me out ;)

To all that have taken the time to read my story, thank you! To those who have my story on your favorite list, thank you so much! I really wasn't expecting that for the prequel to chapter one! To those who have me on alerts - it just means a lot to me. Thanks to all of you, here is the official Chapter 1 !

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers! I WISH I did, but I'm just not that awesome. I'm awesome, but not that awesome ;)

Also, I do not own the song "I'm So Happy" by Liam Lynch. I. Do. Not. Own. ^-^

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

All eyes, organic and mechanical, focused on the newest arrival to the room. The scientists and workers already knew the figure but all were shocked into silence at the angry tone in the experiment's voice. Cerulean optics brightened at the word – someone heard his call for help, someone here cared. Turning his head the yellow bot let his optics rest on the source of the voice only to halt his actions in shock. The chained girl in the doorway was dressed in army-like, loose fitting shorts that reached her battered knees and a simple, dark gray tank top that did little to hide her scars and wounds. The facts of what shook the bot to the core was not what this girl with the fiery hair was wearing however, it was the fact that this injured child, most likely barely older than his own charge, was covered in green flames, held captive by chains around her neck, waist, arms, and ankles, and she possessed sharp, golden eyes that at the moment were glaring at the lead scientist.

As the girl's golden eyes met his own shocked optics, he saw her stern face relax with a sad, small smile on her youthful face. The fire which had been whirling around her like a vortex faded until only random green wisps fluttered in and out of existence along her skinny frame. Her eyes as she gazed up at him focused intensely on something he could not see, but regardless of what she saw, it _felt_ as if she were looking through him, observing secrets hidden deep within his young spark and yet he didn't feel threatened that she was possibly finding his weaknesses, his secrets, because for whatever reason, she felt like _home_. He chirped once in confusion, his questions hanging in the air as her eyes filled with recognition and acknowledgement of his inquiries. Her sad smile turned into a completely mischievous grin as she disregarded everyone in that room to stare at him; his not so simple questions '_Who are you?' _and '_Why?'_ had been asked.

"A1R1, explain your reasoning for speaking when not spoken to." Ah, Tom Banachek, the head honcho of this horrible operation. Meeting his eyes, A1R1 allowed the man to see her grin, her fangs peeking out the corner of her mouth in amusement.

"You didn't say please." Her voice was soft, tone heavy in sarcasm, and her eyes danced with a mirth that had been absent for three years.

Her response shocked all hands in the room; the fact she even responded with her voice was a hint of-itself that the girl had something planned. Each and every human looked on with slight fear as fox ears appeared in place of her human-like ones and a tail as red as her hair tipped in a snowy white began to sway from side to side – she was amused and was letting it show.

"Alright, will you _please_ explain to us why you have spoken for this _NBE_?" Her ears twitched at the insult to both her and the yellow bot in that sentence, eyes narrowing into slits.

"_**Well?**_" His impatient tone and unnecessarily loud voice irritated her. She lifted her tired and restrained arms and pointed to the machine still hovering over the bot's chest and felt a pleased satisfaction as all but the yellow bot flinched and stared in horror at the new, burning pile that was created from her fire burning that torture device out of existence. It was a warning and a reminder of what she was capable of all in one message.

Her small fire act brought about ten more levels of curiosity to the bot's emotion forefront. He was calming down, interested in what was happening, fear being replaced by awe and wonder. **-**_**Protect him, he is a friend-**_ She already knew that, she didn't need to be told; she'd have to be blind, stupid, and foolish to believe otherwise – like the scientists! One scientist thought it wise to use his freezing device on the pile of ashes and 'accidently' on the restrained yellow bot. His cry of pain brought her attention straight to that scientist and with the order of **Protect** still fresh in her mind she melted the spray hose shut and let a burst of low heat flames explode into existence right in front of the face of the scientist burning the thin eyebrows off his fat face. Ensuring that no one else would get the bright idea to harm the bot, she went and allowed her fire to search the room for more of those freezing devices and disable them - the wires wrapped around the bot restraining him appeared near fire-proof, and she did not want to risk hurting him with her flames, so once more, her green fire faded out of existence, only occasionally brushing along her form in a mere whisper of the loud, blazing inferno it could become.

"You, you, you…" Tom Banachek was at a loss for words, his stuttering bringing her attention back to his form. Those who had weapons immediately grabbed them and trained the weapons on her. Her ears folded back much as the ears of an animal would when displeased before perking back up again in excitement.

"You're stuttering you know, but don't worry, I doubt you needed those machines anyway, **right**?" The humans in the room all shuddered at the dark tone in her usually soft voice and indifferent eyes; those holding the weapons dropped them in shock. The last time they had heard that tone was when –

"Why don't you all try asking this handsome fellow on the table what it is you want to know instead of experimenting on him?" Stunned silence filled the room once more. She wanted them to _talk_ with a _robot alien?_

"Alright, since you are all stunned speechless by my common-sense, I'll ask him some questions instead." Turning to face the curious bot once more and ignoring the shaken humans, her grin was replaced by a kind smile. "Can you talk?" It was a simple but important question that needed to be answered.

The bot chirped sadly, and "_static…_XM Radio…_static"_ was played for the room, blue optics focused on her form.

"My name is Artemis. Can you use the radio to tell me your name?" Her voice was alight with curiosity, eyes sparkling at the fact she had someone to talk to and the guards and scientists were too bewildered by her behavior to do anything to stop her right now. Her ears perked up in attention, her long tail swinging about in a wild way, at times even lightly brushing the floor, she looked for all the room to see an excited, happy teenager.

"Of course it can't speak A1R1, it's a robot!" Her guard holding her ankle chains spoke in a snide voice, snapping back to attention and out of his stupor. Why did he still refuse to accept she had a name even when reminded? Artemis glared hatefully at the man, a frown gracing her full lips, her tail shocked into stillness, and her ears pulled back in displeasure. About to singe his eyebrows, mustache, and short beard off his face, a static voice replied to her initial question with "B".

The room's attention turned from Artemis and her guard to the robotic being on the table. His optics still alert on Artemis's form, and repeated "B" in his static voice. His eyes dimmed in concentration, his voice attempting to add to his previous statement, a scratchy "Bum…B…" kept repeating, his emotions changing from curiosity to annoyance and displeasure. For a good ten minutes the yellow bot struggled to tell his name with his voice, but the sound was filled with too many static and mechanical scratches to be understood. Giving up, the bot turned his head away and let it fall to the table with a dull thud, optics staring at the high ceiling with annoyance radiating from his large form and a mechanical whirl that sounded suspiciously like a sigh was heard. A small amount of men in that room laughed softly at the human-like gesture while the rest smirked at his failure. Tom Banachek just looked confused, though that was nothing new to Artemis.

A voice whispered to her mental ear, _**The Presence**_ entering and hugging her mental self with amusement and love giving Artemis the truth she longed to know. "Bumblebee, your name is Bumblebee." Her voice rang loud in the quiet room; the bot in question lifted his head and allowed his optics to zoom to her form. Eyes kept flitting back and forth from Artemis and Bumblebee, unsure what to make of the situation. Banachek watched the proceedings with a thoughtful, sneaky look. Perhaps he had found A1R1's new weakness-A recording of "Thank you…You're Wonderful! Beautiful! Absolutely Wonderful!" played from Bumblebee causing Banachek to lose his line of reasoning and causing Artemis to smile and let her ears and tail relax. Optics softening in their gaze, Bumblebee let out another high-pitched chirp, making Artemis chuckle and loosen up her tense muscles.

"I'M REALLY SPEACIAL CAUSE THEIR'S ONLY ONE OF ME. LOOK AT MY SMILE I'M SO DAMN HAPPY OTHER PEOPLE ARE JEALOUS OF ME!" Everyone jumped, Artemis shaking her head to rid her ears of the echo from the noise as Banachek grabbed his phone and opened it, automatically saying "Banachek".

There was only one person that ringtone was assigned to, and Artemis knew that person well - he was one of the few that were kind to her and protested her harsh treatment. A loud "You're already here?" brought Artemis out of her thoughts before she dived right back into them. She succeeded in her little quest of distracting them until it was too late to do any tests. Amazing how quickly half an hour passes by. Since Simmons was here, that meant the teens were as well and relying on her instinct, she knew they would come for Bumblebee.

"Understood." Banachek hung up and put his cell away, turning his full attention to Artemis with a glint in his eyes. Looking at her guards, he nodded at them before turning to the scientists that led Artemis to that room, the short and tall ones. "Lewis, Stewart, I want you two to take A1R1 to **that **chamber and commence testing – I have a feeling that this will be the last opportunity to do such a testing, so go as high as you wish. I don't really care at this point – we have a new experiment anyway."

Unrestrained glee filled the shorter man's eyes – he was the scientist that had been scorched by her flames not even twenty minutes ago and was eager to pay her back for that. The taller one, Stewart, just sighed at yet another job he considered a chore.

A hard tug on her neck caused the collar to rub unpleasantly against her bloodied scabs. Following her guards that were ready to drag her, she looked back one final time at the figure on the table. Her fox ears and tail disappearing in a burst of fire along with her amusement and happiness, she smiled sadly once more at Bumblebee. "Bye Bumbles" was all that was heard from her as she was pulled out the door. Her bare feet lightly padding along the cold tile floors, already she missed her fox features and the lightness that came with laughing, but she wouldn't let the scientists have that precious part of her - they've taken far too much of her already, and she refused to let them get their hands on her fur. Turning the corner, she was nearing the place of her nightmares.

Moving to leave himself, Banachek glanced back at the NBE that was once more struggling to be freed, optics stuck on the place A1R1 was last standing. Catching the bot's blue optics, Banachek found himself at a loss of breath, the pain and panic that could clearly be seen was overwhelming, and the hate in those optics directed at him made Banachek realize something. This thing _knew_ what was going to happen and _wanted _to prevent it. This thing was alive, just like him, and that shook him, but the cry that was released as he walked away to meet his guests would haunt him for the rest of his life. Mechanical chirp or not, even Banachek recognized the meaning behind it, after all, he had heard that cry once before from a horse-sized fox.

He rushed down the hallway, keen on getting answers about these NBE's, and those kids that just arrived have those very answers. Pausing mid-step, Banachek realized he, himself, would also be getting heavily questioned – the secret was out, and more was about to be revealed.

The mechanical and animalistic cries of "_Save her!"_ still rung in his head as he made his way to greet Simmons and John Keller.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N:

Please forgive any cussing in my story. I will tell everyone now, the three most common 'curses' you'll see in my story will be 'damn', 'hell', and 'shit'- nothing major, but it may offend some people, so I'm apologizing right now before I use them: Sorry if I offend you!

Pixie Star Fire, BrittanyMichele, Ryle Culler – thank you so much for reviewing! It's very encouraging to read that you guys want more of my story!

For everyone that kindly put my story on your alert and/or your favorite list, once more, thank you so much! It makes me want to write even more :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Transformers' Universe except my character and plot deviations. Also, a few of my ideas concerning the All Spark have been influenced and inspired by FaeCat's Science and Fiction (Awesome story!),

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

They dragged her back to that room, that glass-like box so alike the box in which the scientists use to bring cell phones and other mechanical devices to life only to quickly snuff that life right back out of them. This glass-like box which had places to attach all her chains was covered with bloodstains, both fresh and old. Cracks littered the floor within, the walls with blood stains in the shapes of bloodied fists served as a cold reminder of the pain that was to come.

The room was barely enough for five 6' guys, but plenty big enough for one person the size of 5'7 to be chained and restrained in. There was no escape from the little, clear room; Artemis knew that well. After the first four times of blowing the room apart from the seams with her fire to stop the pain she or her twin was feeling, the scientists wised up and made the damn room pretty much fire proof with metals that had very high melting points – the same metals they used for her collar, chains, and restraints. How they made the room see-through though, is a mystery she has yet to solve. She's a healer and protector, not a scientist!

The moment her eyes landed on that little glass box was the moment her struggle began anew – there was no way in hell she was going to make her guards' job easy on them. She didn't want to go in there. Artemis had heard Banachek's whispered words of 'as high as you want' to short Mr. Lewis; if she got in that box with him at the control panel Artemis knew without a doubt that he would set it to the highest voltage and leave it there – even she couldn't survive that for very long, and advanced healing or not, there was only so much one body could take.

Frantically pulling, falling, tripping, scorching, and biting she put up a fight for a good half hour, but with four different guards tugging her in different directions to prevent her from mauling one of them, it was hard to do any real damage without just killing them. She would use her fire to lash out and startle, and at times burning them, so she could run past the guards behind her and backtrack a few feet, only to be pulled back and dragged on the floor the few feet she managed to take before repeating the process. When any got too close, Artemis would lash out with her fire, kick, and bite until they moved and she had the freedom to run again. Eventually though, the fight had to end, and in her weakened state, she was the one who lost.

When she heard the telling clink of a lock being placed and a sudden jerk on her neck and waist, she knew she had lost. Pulling back her green fire immediately after hearing that click, she began conserving as much energy as possible – she needed it, that fire she was made of to survive. She watched with detached eyes as her guards finished attaching her restraints to the walls and floor – her ankles to the floor, the chain around her waist to the wall behind her, her collar's chain to the ceiling, and the chains around her wrists, the cuffs now separated from each other, to a place high on the walls left and right of her. In front of her behind protective walls were the two scientists; Stewart's face was bored and uninterested while Lewis looked ready to bounce up and down like a kid in a candy store for the first time. Both had those blasted goggles on and her guards were long gone. She didn't need her empathy to tell her what was going to happen. She didn't need her empathy to show her their intentions. She knew even without her instinct yelling at her to get away, to escape, just by looking at their goggled faces. Her last coherent thought would have been counted as a 'Smart Alec' remark by her twin had he still been there with her: she really hated when she was right.

Artemis screamed. Saying the electrical currents flowing through her body were painful was the understatement of the year. She screamed. The electrical blue lights raced and wrapped around her body in a cruel embrace, shocking every nerve they touched. She screamed. The currents burned and created new levels of pain from her cuts and they danced and shocked every hurt, every bruise, on her body. She screamed. Her tears deserted her, her throat raw, every muscle jerking out of control even as her fire came out trying to remove the threat from her person. She screamed. Electrical currents that were flooding through her system burned and blistered every inch of skin that touched the metals on her body. She screamed. The scent of her own flesh burning filled her nose and the sound of gunshots was heard, but still she screamed. _**The presence**_ came and surrounded her, apologizing over and over for the pain it was being forced to cause her, holding onto her and keeping her anchored to life while promising help was on the way. Oh how she screamed as her fire lit up the box until her form was completely hidden from view, only blue sparks within the green fire revealed her location.

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><p>Banachek and Simmons lead their guests to the miniature version of the chamber currently holding experiment A1R1. Witwicky and Banes, the two teens, glared hatefully at Simmons while Keller, Madsen, and the Army Soldiers glared in disgust at him, the Head of Sector 7 and all its shadiness and secrets. The hacker, Whitmann, was busy observing every door, hallway, and tech device he passed.<p>

Arriving at the room, Banachek gestured for Simmons to hand out the goggles while he fetched another worker to lock them in and let them out. Putting on the goggles, he entered behind Epps, the Technical Sergeant on Captain Lennox's team. Eyes focusing on the slash marks on the wall which were brought to everyone's attention by Epps, his mind flickered back to the memory of a fox standing over the broken figure of a girl making that scratch mark as a threat in an effort to defend themselves. Coming back to the present at Simmons's 'Samurai' joke, he realized he has made many mistakes over his long career as he watched the cell phone spark into life.

As Keller, the soldiers, and the kids all jumped when the little cell-bot began firing it's small guns to be released, Banachek jerked at the sounds coming from the bot – they were eerily similar in nature of the NBE's…Bumblebee's…cries that echoed after A1R1. When Simmons moved to deactivate it, Banachek grabbed the controller from him, and ignoring everyone's confused expressions, he went to the door and motioned for it to be opened.

Standing tall, Banachek turned back to the confused and worried group. Making his way to the box, he gestured for everyone to move back, and before anyone could stop him, he opened the box and quickly got out of the way.

"What the hell man? Did you not just see that thing shooting little deadly guns?" Captain Lennox had his hand on his gun, motioning for the Secretary of Defense and the kids to get behind him and his team. Epps and Fig, the only two members left of Lennox's original team, took a defensive stance around the kids and Keller, and both had their hands on their weapon, safety off, eyes trained on the bot making a dash get-away.

"Quick! Follow that robot!" With that said, Banachek ran after the little bot. Small or not, that thing moved fast.

"He wants us to _follow_ the little demon that was just shooting everything it could in the box?" Sam Witwicky stared incredulously at the retreating figure of Banachek.

"_Why?_" Mikaela Banes doubtfully looked to the remaining adults for a hint of what to do.

"Kid, regardless of what is going on through his head, Banachek is the only one who has the clearance to take you to your little alien friend." Simmons was already following his superior, a feeling of dread beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. Running quickly past him was Sam, his little girlfriend hot on his heels.

"Kid, get back here! It's not safe!" And there went the army grunts and the Secretary of Defense with his advisors at his sides. Running to catch up to them, the pathways that were being taken were getting uncomfortably familiar, the fresh scorch marks on the walls and floor made the feeling of dread rise. Mumbling under his breath, Simmons prayed to every deity he'd ever heard of that Banachek didn't allow what he was beginning to fear he did –

A scream of a young woman that hurt to hear was resonating down the hallways and caused the little bot that was barely ahead of the group to stumble and trip. The group came to a standstill for a moment that felt like ages, but was brought back to normal time as with the next loud cry the wall behind them exploded outwards into the hallway. All the workers were running around like headless chicken as the yellow NBE stepped out of the hole in the wall with his battle mask in place and cannon out. His bright blue optics narrowed in anger. Needless to say, the NBE was _**pissed**_ and they were in his path.

"BUMBLEBEE!" The boy took a step towards the alien, looking relieved to see his friend and frightened of Bumblebee's cannons. Sam gripped Mikaela around her waist as she came to stand next to him. "Bumblebee, they didn't hurt you, right?" Fear and worry were heard in Sam's voice, concern bright in his eyes.

Another scream filled the hallway, and barely taking a second glance at the group, Bumblebee began transforming into the Chevrolet Camaro. Barely waiting for them to get out of the way, Bumblebee slowed to allow the sparkling to jump on him before tearing down the hallway, the group of humans following as fast as possible. Halfway down the hallway, once more the entire group froze; robot and human alike were paralyzed in shock. Gunshots echoed down the corridors, and less than five seconds later, the screams came to an abrupt end. Silence was smothering the group, no one moved.

An engine revved angrily and Bumblebee left them in his dust, sparkling hanging on, crippled in fear. _Where did she go – Can't feel her –Not gone? – Hurt – Not gone? -…Not Gone…- __**Find her. Help her. Hurt.**_ Bumblebee raced even faster, trying to comfort both the sparkling and his own spark that she was okay, that the fire would not be put out permanently. _**She hurts.**_ He could feel waves of pain coming from the hanger ahead, and waves of remorse from the All Spark somewhere behind him. It's here… _It hurts – I know - she live? – She Lives – you sure? - …We are almost there, we'll __**know**__ in just a minute little one- _

Her broken form lying limply in the chains holding her up nearly sent Bumblebee into a rage even Megatron himself would be wary of. If the scientists that did this were alive and not dead on the floor with their life's blood flowing out of their chilling bodies Bumblebee would have been hard pressed not to squish them.

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><p>AN: Like it? Love it? Hate it? :)

Thanks for reading, and I'll try to have another chapter up within two days - I doubt I'll get a chance to update tomorrow; its going to be a crazy day!

Heads up: If you go back and re-read my story for whatever reason and at times find something new or just not there, don't be surprised. If I make any major changes to previous chapters, I'll warn you, but as of now it'll only be small mistakes fixed or a few added details here and there. I just wanted to let you guys know that you aren't going crazy if you start asking yourself 'was this here before?' :)


	4. Chapter 3

A/N:

Sorry for the long wait!

For everyone that kindly put my story on your alert and/or your favorite list, and for those who have left me a review, once more, thank you so much! It makes me want to write even more :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Transformers' Universe except my character and plot deviations. Also, a few of my ideas concerning the All Spark have been influenced and inspired by FaeCat's Science and Fiction (Awesome story!),

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

_The little mech was floating around in a warm, golden light. Blue bolts occasionally wrapped around him in a hug, whispers of '__**It's almost your turn little one, soon'**__ flashed across his consciousness. A tug, a gentle nudge ushering him into his first frame appeared, the warm light wrapped around him in the fiercest hug yet experienced before pushing him away, away from his mother. __**Little one, when you wake up, when you first online your optics, RUN. Find HER. **__Flaming hair, golden eyes, a kind smile, and green fire flashed before him. __**Help HER. **__Memories of that kind smile being replaced by a serious, seemingly unfeeling, look that frightened the little mech were revealed; 'what happened to the happy feeling face?' __**Find HER. **__SHE had her head held low and was being pulled away from a bigger bot, metal wrapped around her frame taking her away.__** She's hurt. **__Memories of the girl healing other small beings flashed before the little mech; memories of another red-head healing her with blue flames, of them healing each other. 'Where is that red head? Why not help and heal her again?' __**He is gone. **__'He left?' A bloodied red fox lay unmoving near her. She was kneeling over the fox with liquid coming out of her eyes, shaking the fox with everything her damaged, bleeding form could handle. The fox didn't move. A tall male dressed in a suit stood in the corner of the room, just watching. __**Gone. Can no longer heal Her. **__'Heal herself? She has fire that heals, why not heal herself?' __**Her fire does not heal her as it heals others. Find Her, my little one. Save Her. She can help. '**__Where is she?' He could suddenly see what she saw – the hallway, her fighting the bad men, a green fire lashing out, and a room with a big clear box in it. __**Hurry!**_

Light filtered through his now open optics and almost immediately he remembered what his mother wanted, what it asked of him. _**Find her! Hurry!**_ He cried out in a language never heard by some of the humans standing around him.

He was in a little box not unlike the one he witnessed right before his activation. He was trapped and many eyes were just staring at him. Why were they here? Why weren't they helping the one with green fire and kind smile? Did they not care? Were they trying to prevent him from going to her? _**Hurry!**_

He had to get out. Guns his mother provided him upon activation were brought out. He head-butted the glass trying to weaken the structure; why couldn't they just let him out? 'That thing is freaky!' That came from the yellow haired female. How was he freaky? He just wanted out. _**Hurry!**_

One human – he knew that human! He was near HER and the fallen fox in that sad memory shown to him! Dangerous – he hurt HER! He let off his guns once more on that human, only for his weapons to be deflected by the glass.

The human, the one who hurt Her, opened the door to the room, then the hatch to his box. He was free! Ignoring the human for the moment, he ran as fast as his small legs could take him, passing hallways and corridors to on either side of him – this pathway was familiar, it was the same as the one from the vision. _**Too Late. **__No! __**Too Late.**_ The humans were following him; did they come to finally help? _**I'm sorry little one, it is too late. **_The scream the pierced the hallway _hurt_. Tripping, he realized in horror that he had failed, he wasn't fast enough. The humans had caught up to him, freezing as their minds registered the scream. Could they _feel_ the pain as well?

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><p>How did he become reduced to a walking head? Oh yes, that dark-haired femme cut his head off so his target Witwicky could punt his head across the field! Glitch heads. At least the femme was good for one use, she lead him straight to the All Spark!<p>

He crept past the workers and got underneath the All Spark – a little closer and he could get his body back and his long-distance communication comms online! As he touched the All Spark, he could feel its power rushing over him, healing and repairing his body which had been destroyed. What he hadn't been expecting though was for the All Spark to take a hold of and grab his spark, not releasing him to go on with his business. Nothing could have prepared him for what was then shown to him as soon the mother spark had a firm hold on his own. Images of a fleshy were being shown to him, from her first introduction to the All Spark to her last torture session involving the All Spark's power. Standing out to him was the fact that her pain _hurt_ him – the fact he could even feel her pain was a testament to the strangeness of the girl; he'd already killed and injured plenty of fleshies and never felt one ounce of pain, so why? Why didn't he want her to hurt? She'd probably just hurt him like the dark-haired femme…

_**Help her.**_ Nuh-uh. No way. He has a mission to carry out – everyone was waiting for him to disclose the information of the location of Megatron and the All Spark!

_**Help her!**_ No way – if he doesn't hurry Barricade will slag him!

_**HELP HER!**_ Images of the red head dying filled his processor. Through the perspective of the All Spark he gained a glimpse of what it would be like should the fleshy die – if every spark and soul was a light then that girl is a sun and everyone else is just mere candle-lights compared to her fire. But still, no, he refuses to help. If he delays much longer Starscream will punish him!

_**HELP! HER! NOW! **_He hesitated; the All Spark took full advantage of his momentary lapse of refusal and threw some of the worst memories of her experimentation at his processor; the images and sounds of her screams as she withered on an examination table bounced back and forth in his processor, and he stumbled from the on slot of information and feelings. _How could she even survive all that?_

_**Help her. **__Fre-Frenzy gi-ive! Fre-en-en-zy give! Wi-ill hel-help flesh-fleshy! Whe-ere sh-she a-a-at? _A room with a glass-like box within was displayed for his processor and Frenzy immediately noticed an air-vent in the corner of the room outside the box. The image changed and he could see the fleshy being dragged by four other fleshies – chains restraining her; she was nearing the room with the box. _**HURRY!**_

He hurried. His newly repaired body moved far faster than the speed he was stuck moving at as only a head. He moved in the opposite direction of the All Spark, something tugging him in different directions throughout the ventilation system to his ordered destination. He moved faster as the presence pulling him faded, he could see green lights out of the holes in a vent up ahead. Screams of someone dying suddenly entered the vents and he moved faster, never once stopping or pausing in his newest mission. He received a ping from his partner Barricade as he reached the exit of the vent; through the openings he could see the fleshy chained up in the clear box, withering and pulling against the chains trying to escape her pain. Red lines coiled under her skin revealing paths the electrical currents chose to take throughout her body; her wrists, neck, and ankles heavily bleeding from the force being applied to them as the fleshy struggled to get away. The girl's eyes were wide and unseeing; the gold color dominating her eyes, not a speck of white was to be found. The green lights that had led Frenzy to this location were revealed to be a green fire that seemed to be fighting off the All Spark energy while searching the box for a way out. And her scream…as Frenzy received yet another ping from Barricade, Frenzy sent him a data pack, a recording of everything he was seeing and hearing and the All Spark's plea. Taking another look at the situation, Frenzy spotted four guards lounging against the door of the room, unconcerned and unbothered by the death screams; two humans in white coats stood at a control panel watching with rapt interest as the girl in the box screamed and fell to her knees, even going so far as to mention that she was lasting longer than expected. Mumbling and cursing in Cybertronian and broken English, Frenzy waited for Barricade's reply. Should he help the girl?

_-Frenzy, kill the humans, turn off the machine, and then complete your mission- -Wh-what abou-bout th-the flesh-fleshy?- -Leave her, if she survives, she lives. If she dies, you tried. Free Megatron and get out of there- _Another scream tore at both mechs still connected by the open communication line; both unintentionally flinching at the pain-filled sound. –_Understood? Leave her once you turn off the machine; complete your mission- -Under-understood! Fre-Frenzy understands! – _As the link was dropped Frenzy broke through the vent and entered the room, immediately shooting the humans with the weapons first; four well-aimed bullets caught the guards in the head and they fell like stones to the ground. Turning to the two scientists, Frenzy approached them murmuring angrily in his native language standing to his full height at five feet, his blue optics glowing brightly. Insulting the humans and calling them 'glitch heads' and 'stupid insects' among other , more creative offenses, Frenzy shot them as they tried to run away – the humans had noticed him too late, only turning when the four other bodies hit the ground. As the two fell dead, Frenzy walked over and kicked the shorter one which had been laughing at the special fleshy's scream and pain a few times before jumping on the taller one's back a few times. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Twisting to stare at the door Frenzy picked up on an Autobot signature getting closer but another sharp scream made him turn his attention back to the dying, red-haired figure only to find he couldn't see her, the green fire was swirling like a whirlwind within the confines of the box, completely hiding her from view. Not bothering to check the controls, Frenzy released three disc-like blades into the machinery, and within thirty seconds the electrical currents of All Spark energy stopped flowing into the glass-like box. As the fire died down with the absence of the All Spark energy, for a brief moment golden eyes and blue optics met, and without warning Frenzy was filled with a foreign feeling of gratitude directed towards him. With a tiny, almost unnoticeable bow of the head, the fleshy thanked him by acknowledging him one last time before she closed her eyes and sunk in her chains, taking short, shallow breaths. Knowing that he had done what he could, Frenzy spun on his heel and scurried back to the air ducts. He had a mission to carry out that had been delayed long enough. –_All Spark located –_

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><p><em>"Lewis, Stewart, I want you two to take A1R1 to <em>_**that **__chamber and commence testing – I have a feeling that this will be the last opportunity to do such a testing, so go as high as you wish. I don't really care at this point – we have a new experiment anyway."_

Why? Why would that human say something like that? What will happen to her in **that** chamber? 'Last opportunity' and 'testing' is not reassuring at all!

Bumblebee kept his optics trained on Artemis, watching as she flinched noticeably at the words; her golden eyes narrowed, the black pupil forming into the oval slits of an angry predator. What was going on? A hard tug from the chain around her neck caused Artemis to turn her full attention to her guards; she was already injured, so why did they treat her with such rough treatment? Would that have been him had she not interfered and destroyed their equipment?

"Bye Bumbles." The look in her eyes as she gazed at him and the tone of her voice keyed Bumblebee into a very important truth – Artemis had lost hope of being saved; wherever she was being taken was going to take her to the entrance of the Matrix if someone didn't interfere with HER testing.

As Artemis turned the corner and he could no longer see her, Bumblebee launched himself almost violently trying to free himself. The cyro-machines may have been damaged beyond use, but the humans still had the wires keeping him trapped on the table around his form. Again he lunged, but there was no slack in his restraints.

His bright blue optics found the blue eyes of the leader of this place; earlier when he arrived he had heard the human being called 'Banachek'. He let the human see his anger; this human was nothing like his Sam and did not even compare to the girl he had just sent to her death. No, this human represented the human life of the planet that made them, the Autobots, question whether they should fight for the humans or not.

Bumblebee let his engine rev in anger, his chirp a mixture of Cybertronian and pure heartbreaking melodies while lunging yet again against the chains holding him back from following Artemis. Still not moving, Bumblebee let his head fall back against the table and a cry so bittersweet escaped him that the human he had just stared down wouldn't be likely to forget it anytime soon.

He had to calm down; needed to relax and get back into that state he was coaxed into by Artemis. What should he do? Even if he freed himself there would be a risk of hurting the humans in his effort to rescue Artemis, and Optimus had made them swear not to harm them…Optimus!

_-Bumblebee reporting! Autobots come-in!- _He waited as patiently as he could for the answering ping; had he not been restrained to a blasted table he'd be up and pacing.

-_Bumblebee? Younglin, how are ya? What's your location? Why didn't ya contact us before? Have the humans hurt ya? Come-on Bee, answer me!- _And there was Jazz, sounding completely panicked; but who could blame him for being worried?

-_Bumblebee to Autobots. I don't know my location other than I'm underground. I had been busy before now and this has been my first opportunity to contact everyone since I have arrived. Sam is here somewhere_, _but I have yet to see him. I'm restrained at the moment, but a young, injured girl prevented any of the humans here to begin experimenting on me…I need advice!-_ That being sent over their communication line, Bumblebee quickly sent a data pack to each of the Autobots concerning Artemis and his situation up until that point; a more thorough report was sent to Ratchet on Artemis's current condition.

Silence reigned over the comm. line. Bumblebee again began fighting at his restraints; a sense of urgency was rising in his spark. He needed to get out of there, he needed to hurry, and he needed to get to Artemis before it was too late. She had risked her safety for him, an alien, by angering her captors in helping him escape the humans' experiments. Why she had helped him, he wanted to find out; he wanted to know her, she was different and he was curious, but most of all, he wanted to thank her.

-_You have good aim kid, just aim for the chains in a corner where there are not humans and break the wires once you can move again_- Ironhide always seemed to have a solution involving guns, but for this situation it was a welcome idea. _–Optimus to Bumblebee. Once you have freed yourself, find the girl and Sam. The All Spark is near your location, I want you to- _The scream that echoed over the open lines shook each of the Autobots. Bumblebee cut off the link with the others and instantaneously transformed his arm into a cannon and released a controlled blast, startling the humans in the room. He once more struggled to sit up, to free himself, and this time there was a slack in the wires that allowed him enough movement to get free.

Standing up, Bumblebee kept his cannon trained on the humans with his battle mask in place; they didn't need to know he wouldn't actually shoot them. When the next scream came Bumblebee reacted on instinct and blew up the wall in front of him; he needed to move fast if he was going to be of help.

He stepped out of the hole in the wall ignoring the humans running around him; as Bumblebee cleared the wall and looked down to his right, his optics instantly found his charge and the human that was the cause of the screaming. His optics brightened in anger but he calmed down; he'd deal with Banachek later. Looking up farther ahead, he saw a sight that made his spark swell in happiness and hope; was that a _sparkling?_

"Bumblebee!" Sam was calling to him, but he didn't have the time to console his charge. As another scream filled the hallway Bumblebee transformed into his alt. form and took off once his charge and the group of humans moved, only stopping briefly to collect the sparkling before speeding up again. Halfway down the hall, gunshots shocked him into braking. What felt like five seconds, but in truth was closer to a minute, Bumblebee snapped back to attention with the realization of the fact that the screaming had come to an abrupt end and the silence threatened to overwhelm them. Bumblebee almost wished for the screaming to start up again; at least it would tell him that she was alive.

His engine revving angrily, he left the humans behind him as he raced to get to her, to Artemis. The sparkling attached himself even closer to Bumblebee, crippled in fear. The sparkling was trying to ping him, attempting to open a comm. line with him, and Bumblebee allowed it. He couldn't let the sparkling go into shock…just the thought of what Ratchet would do should anything happen to the sparkling was enough reason for Bumblebee to keep a very close optic on the tiny mech.

_Where did she go – Can't feel her –Not gone? – Hurt – Not gone? -…Not Gone…- __**Find her. Help her. Hurt.**_ Bumblebee raced even faster, trying to comfort both the sparkling and his own spark that she was okay, that the fire he had only just discovered would not be put out permanently. _**She hurts.**_ He could feel waves of pain coming from the hanger ahead, and waves of remorse from the All Spark somewhere behind him. To think that the All Spark was here… _It hurts – I know - she live? – She Lives – you sure? -…We are almost there, we'll __**know**__ in just a minute little one-_

Her broken form lying limply in the chains holding her up nearly sent Bumblebee into a rage even Megatron himself would be wary of. If the scientists that did this were alive and not dead on the floor with their life's blood flowing out of their chilling bodies Bumblebee would have been hard pressed not to squish them.

Bumblebee transformed back into his Bi-Pedal form and began circling the box which contained Artemis. If he broke the box to get her, he could injure her further, and with the current shape she's in, Artemis wouldn't be able to handle it; as it was his sensors could barely pick up on the faint breaths that came in and out short and shallowly from her lips. His arm was too big to fit into the box; his hand alone would hardly fit through the small opening. Bumblebee let out an annoyed cry as the humans and his charge ran into the room; he couldn't do anything even now when he had found her. He couldn't even send the sparkling into the box to check on Artemis; the All Spark energy was far too strong in there to allow the tiny mech in – it would most likely deactivate the little bot!

"Oh god, what's that smell?" "What the hell is going on here?" "Bumblebee!" "Sam!" "Oh no…"

Everyone was speaking at once. Simmons walked over to the control panel and was shocked at what settings it was on: DANGER with the safety switch off. Turning to face Banachek, Simmons' yelling drew everyone's, aka the teens, government official with his aides, the special ops from the army, and the NBE's attention.

"What the hell Banachek? After what happened two months ago you swore you'd never send her into that damn box again! What did you tell Stewart and Lewis; because it's only with your orders anyone is allowed in here!" Simmons was practically spewing fire himself after his rant; hadn't that girl been through enough?

"Simmons, watch your tone. I didn't say to go to the highest setting and to take off the safety switch off of-" An angry chirp cut of Banachek, and a recording from earlier was played.

_"Lewis, Stewart, I want you two to take A1R1 to __**that **__chamber and commence testing – I have a feeling that this will be the last opportunity to do such a testing, so go as high as you wish. I don't really care at this point – we have a new experiment anyway."_

Banachek's voice played from Bumblebee's speakers, and everyone in the room turned to glare at Banachek in disgust while he paled; hearing it played back to him enlightened him as to why the NBE, Bumblebee, had been trying so hard to go after A1R1; his words didn't sound too far from a death sentence.

"Where are the keys to her chains?" Once more, everyone's heads turned to face the speaker. Captain William Lennox looked green and pale, but repeated his question due to the silence. "Where are the keys?"

Wordlessly Simmons turned and went around the fallen bodies of the guards, collecting a key from each of them before turning them over to Lennox who then entered the clear box with Epps close behind. "Damn! It feels hotter than the desert in here!" Epps and Lennox were both displeased by the heat in the small room, and didn't want to go a step farther than the door. Upon closer inspection of the room, Lennox and Epps both found some of the chains holding the girl up to be a bright angry red, as if the chains had just come out of the forge. Fig appeared behind his captain, and silently offered to keep the door open for them, to which they nodded their thanks and walked once more towards the injured girl, although how she wasn't sweating rivers was beyond them.

Mikaela was gripping onto Sam, her head buried in the crook of his neck as she was horrified at the sight of the girl, barely older than them, hanging limply in the chains. Sam slowly led Mikaela behind Bumblebee so neither would have to be faced with the gruesome sight. Maggie Madsen gripped onto the sleeve of her boss, her face pale with a hint of green, as Keller patted her hand in reassurance though extremely pale himself; neither had been prepared for human experimentation. Glenn Whitmann just turned his head and walked out of the room. The sound of retching could be heard but no one could blame him; this was a painful sight. The sound of the sparkling crying in Bumblebee's hand slowly distracted everyone's attention from the two soldiers working to free Artemis.

A startled gasp escaped Lennox; the girl in the chains had opened her eyes, blinking and trying to focus her golden orbs. While her current age confused him greatly, her eyes and her hair should have clued him in, but Lennox had thought everyone had died seven years ago.

"Captain?" Epps' voice brought Lennox back the present. "I'm fine. Can we switch keys? This one isn't unlocking her collar."

Switching keys, Lennox unlocked the collar hiding the girl's neck and removing it allowed the girl to take a much needed deep breath while Epps removed the chains around her waist. Lennox's hazel eyes found each and every scar on her neck, focusing on the newest burns and fresh cuts. He had to know…

"Arty?" One word was all it took to bring her back to the world of the conscious, and clear, searching golden eyes locked on his own confused and dismayed hazel ones.

A raspy voice raw from screaming let out a hesitant "Mr. Lennox?"

A half smile formed on his face, the question already out before he could stop it out of an old habit. "What have I told you and your twin about calling me that?"

Pain flashed through her eyes when he mentioned her twin and his keen eyes didn't miss the split-second flash of pain. The turning and lowering of her head, the dismayed and haunted look in her eyes was enough to clue him in that either Apollo was at another location, severely injured somewhere within the building, or worse, dead. Tossing his last key to Epps who had been watching him sadly, he nodded and motioned for him to undo the last of the chains – her arms.

"Arty?" A mumbled 'hn' greeted his ears letting him know she was listening. "Where is your twin? Where is Apollo?"

A tear escaped a golden eye unbidden and she quickly used her shoulder to remove the tear off her face; Artemis gave a sharp shake of her head to Lennox as if that would answer his question before lowering it again. In a scratchy, small, and quiet voice, Artemis slowly explained a piece of the puzzle that was the pain in her eyes. "My twin is dead Uncle Will. Apollo is no longer here with me, he's gone to a place I can never reach." Her form shook lightly, whether from the pain she just experienced or the memories of her twin, Lennox didn't know; he just laid a hand on her matted hair and gently rubbed her head as he used to when she was just a little girl, threading his fingers into her hair and petting her until she calmed down as his own eyes clenched shut in grief. He may have had seven years to get used to the idea of Apollo being dead, but that did not stop the wave of pain after hearing it confirmed from one he had also believed dead.

Removing his hand from her head, Lennox wrapped his arms carefully around Artemis's tortured body and prepared himself for her weight as Epps unchained her wrists; he was shocked at how light she was, he was guessing approximately 110 pounds, but knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was far too underweight for her age and height.

Epps walked ahead of Lennox, holding the opposite door to the box open wide enough with Fig for Lennox and the precious cargo to get out easily; both were sweating from the intense heat from within the room. Those who had still been watching felt their eyes widening when they got a closer look at the girl; the cuts, the blood, the burns, the bruises, her thinness, and her pale skin was enough to send Glenn Whitmann as well as Maggie Madsen back out into the hall to empty the contents of their stomachs.

Lennox turned to the alien yellow bot, held Artemis up, and placed her in his large hands; he trusted the alien that came rushing here to help Arty far more then he trusted any of the goons working here. Once the yellow bot had Artemis in his hands and held near his chest like an infant, Lennox turned on his heel, approached Banachek, and punched him once in the gut and performed a strong uppercut, connecting his fist to the underside of Banachek's jaw, effectively knocking the bastard to the cold floor. Nobody protested the action.

Bumblebee cooed down to the girl leaning against his chest. He carefully held her, not wanting to aggravate any of her burns or cuts. A murmured 'Hi Bumbles' reached his audios and he was pleased she was at least somewhat coherent. Ratchet was going to have a fit when he saw her though…

A series of explosions made everyone jump; the lights flickering overhead were not a good sign.

Phone ringing, Banachek got off the ground and walked over to the phone on the control panel; the phone only inches away from what looked like a ninja star. "Banachek."

The voice over the phone could be heard in the room, the generators had been damaged and the back-up ones weren't going to cut it; Megatron was one step closer to being freed from his icy prison.

"Do you guys have an arms room?" Lennox had turned to Simmons for an answer; they needed to get moving and fast.

"Right this way! It's on the way to the All Spark. Let's get moving people!" Simmons turned and began to jog down the hallways, everyone following with Bumblebee following in the rear of the group keeping one optic on his charge and another optic on the girl in his hands, watching as the sparkling curled up next to the semi-conscious girl, only to crawl into her pants pockets to sleep.

Lennox looked back every few minutes to check on Artemis as her condition wasn't good. He was horrified to find that his best friends' kids had been taken and experimented on here…Sector Seven was experimenting on children…it was an cold truth that needed to be further explored. But at the moment, the case would need to remain closed until after things have settled down. He shuddered to think of how he should tell his lovely wife about Artemis's condition and prayed she would take it well. He clenched his fists as they headed towards the armory; their godchildren were tortured and experimented on, and all these years he had been clueless about it. As his eyes darkened in anger, Lennox took a deep breath and unclenched his hands – he needed a clear mind to fight this upcoming battle and took comfort that at least Artemis was still alive. Settling down, Lennox caught Epps' eye and nodded as they entered the armory; it was time gear up and Lennox made a signal to all the men that were called to the dam by Keller, the men now under his command, and watched as they all dispersed to collect their preferred weapons before turning and arming up himself. Within ten minutes the soldiers were well equipped with weapons and everyone turned to enter the All Spark hanger.

Bumblebee slowly and carefully walked over the mass group of humans and calmly approached the All Spark before silently fretting on what to do with Artemis; he needed two hands to get the All Spark. A pat on his right leg made him look down to find that Captain Lennox had his arms open in a gesture suggesting that he would hold Artemis.

Carefully transferring her to the Captain's arms, Bumblebee watched as Lennox backed up before standing and facing the All Spark. He started tracing patterns and applying small electric shocks along certain points of the cube and soon the All Spark began shifting and shuffling itself, folding and changing into a smaller version of itself.

"He's doing something!" Epps and Fig, and in truth everyone but Artemis watched in awe as the cube shrunk down into practically a hundredth of its old size. As the cube fell and landed in Bumblebee's hand, a pulse of All Spark Energy raced through his form and centered on his vocal cords. The notice that his throat injury had been repaired and the fading of injury warnings caused Bumblebee to jerk in surprise. Chirping in happiness from the lack of pain, Bumblebee turned to face his charge that was now standing next to him. Kneeling, Bumblebee handed the All Spark over to Sam, and then proceeded to check Sam and Mikaela for any new injuries.

Ignoring the reunion between the robot and the teens, Lennox turned to Keller with Artemis securely wrapped in his arms. "We're going to take the cube and hide it in Mission City, but we can't make a stand without the Air Force Sir." With that said Keller, Simmons, Banachek, and the two aids turned and began to head for another part of the dam, hoping to find some useable communication devices.

Fig approached his Captain slowly, curious about the girl in his arms; she felt different and his mother had taught him to follow his instincts. "Captain? Are we bringing the girl with us?"

Lennox looked down at the weary but determined golden eyes of the girl in his arms before giving his attention to his soldier and friend. "She's hurt but there is no way in hell I'm leaving her here – you can see the condition she is in and you heard her screams. Most likely I expect that Bumblebee wants her to go with him and the kids, he won't stop staring at us since you asked that question anyways." He gave a small smile and nod to Bumblebee, who nodded back, before turning back to his nervous Technical Officer. "How's your injury holding up?"

"Estoy bien." Fig switched back to Spanish, one hand resting on his bandaged stomach. "No me voy a perder esto."

"English dude, English!" Epps came up behind his friends, complaining as he walked with a small smile on his face of Fig's tendency to speak in Spanish. An old joke between friends saying 'We're still here, still alive'.

Lennox ordered his men and the rangers under his command to get ready to move out; the jeeps needed to be loaded and he wanted to leave in five minutes. Walking over to Bumblebee with the now shrunken cube, he gestured that he would hand Artemis over to him now. As Bumblebee stood to his full height with Artemis in his hands, he carefully began to transform, shifting slowly and cautiously until Artemis ended up lying in his backseat. Front doors opening, Sam and Mikaela jumped in, ready to leave the nightmare that was the dam. Lennox nodded as "Let's get to it!" rang from the speakers of the car and turned to his men; it was time to head out.

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><p>AN:

*For those who are curious, Fig says "I'm good" and then "I am not going to miss this". Thanks to BrittanyMichele and her husband for giving me the correct english to spanish translation!


	5. Chapter 4

A/N:

Well, since I had this part already written, and I believe I aced a hard exam today, I thought I'd go ahead and put it up. It's a bit short, but the next chapter will be longer, much longer…

For everyone that kindly put my story on your alert and/or your favorite list, and for those who have left me a review, once more, thank you so much! It motivates me to write that much better and faster!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Transformers' Universe except my character and plot deviations. Also, a few of my ideas concerning the All Spark have been influenced and inspired by FaeCat's Science and Fiction (Awesome story!)

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

She was annoyed, in fact, she was extremely annoyed. She's just lying draped over the back seats of Bumblebee, trying to catch up on some much needed sleep to restore her energy levels, and she has two pairs of frightened, horrified, and concerned eyes just staring at her. No questions concerning her wellbeing, no question as to who she is, no, just stares. She'd almost prefer an endless amount of questioning compared to the small holes being burned into her head by the two curious stares.

Opening her light eyes and meeting the eyes of the two teens, she watched with hidden amusement as they both flinched and quickly turned around, acting as though they were not just caught staring. Turning her head to look out the window, Artemis noticed that she was free from the walls that had restrained and trapped her – she could finally see the sky and sun again; two tears escaped in quick succession, she had almost forgotten the simple beauty of a cloudless day.

"Bumbles?" Already that nickname had stuck in her mind, and in truth she didn't really want to call him anything else.

A questioning chirp brought Artemis back from memory lane. Looking up, the questioning chirp repeated itself and the two teens sitting in front of her were once more staring at her curiously. Smiling slightly, Artemis patted the seat under her, and said the two words echoing in her heart with every emotion she was feeling: wonder, awe, gratitude, love, friendship, joy, _hope_, and a few that she could not even name, but the reason behind the emotions were clearly understood. "Thank you Bumbles." Eyeing the two teens in front of her, Artemis asked the question that had been bugging her in a soft voice, mindful of her sore throat. "Who are you?"

The boy in the front seat answered her. Small, scrawny, and a tad awkward, the brunette haired boy stuttered an answer for her. "I'm, uh, I'm Sam, and this, this is Mikaela." His wild gestures were entertaining to watch and the dark haired girl just smiled and nodded her head in greeting. "I guess you already know Bee…uh…" The wild gesturing abruptly ended and Sam began scratching the back of his head, eyes flitting back from her form, out the window, back to her, then to Mikaela, back to Artemis, and then back out the window, chuckling uncomfortably.

Poor boy, why not just ask? Saving him the effort, she added "Artemis" to his statement, amused at how tongue-tied he was being. If they all lived through this, she'd have to see how much she could make him squirm; this was more entertaining and far more fun than annoying her guards and Simmons whenever she was bored.

Mikaela, obviously, though somewhat sadly, did not have the same problem as Sam, and quickly added, "Artemis? Are you okay? We could hear the screams from a hallway away from the hanger you were in…and you injuries…" An engine grumbled in agreement to the question; Bumblebee clearly wanting to know the answer as well. And cue the teens re-examining every cut, bruise, and burn not hidden by her clothing in her small moment of silence, faces paling as they found new severities to her burns, or extra blood stains on her shirt that had gone unnoticed in the previous scrutinizing session.

Collecting her thoughts and pondering the possible wording she could use to give them the truth, without revealing the entire truth, Artemis began with the age old saying "I'm fine."

At Sam and Mikaela's doubtful expressions, and a blasted "**You Lie!**" from the radio, Artemis continued with another age old saying: "Really, it's just a small flesh wound…multiple flesh wounds, but nothing too bad. I've had worse."

Wrong thing to say. The widening of the Sam's and Mikaela's eyes, and the blasted **"What?"** alerted Artemis to this truth, so instead she added "Yes, this state I'm in right now can actually be considered good. Burns and such heal pretty quickly for me; it's the cuts I have to worry about. Blood-loss plus me, equals not good and tends to render me completely useless. All Spark plus me equals damaged, but functional. I can survive many things that would normally kill a person, but my body has trouble replacing blood; it just takes too long to heal a bad cut or deep, wide incision" in the hope it would appease them.

"In-in-incision?" An angry rev of Bumblebee's engine that echoed Sam's stuttering, and Mikaela's pale, green-tinted face, clued Artemis in on the fact once more, she said the wrong thing. _Okay, number one and two on my to-do list have officially been changed to 'Learn better social skills' and 'Learn what to say and what not to say.' My usual excuses that I use on Simmons should not be used on anyone other than him. _

"What's the plan?" Changing the topic should distract the teens, right?

"What plan?" _Sam, you are already making the answer to this question to be inauspicious…_

"The plan of what we are doing once we are in the city?"_ They wouldn't bring an injured person into a warzone without some type of semi-decent plan, right?_

"Oh, that plan…there really isn't a plan, just to go and hide…" Yea, Artemis wasn't really digging the not-so-thought-out-plan so causally said by Sam…

"Anything else you want to add?" _Please say yes, please say yes. That can't be they only idea they have, I mean, there will be enemies there right? All trying to get the cube?_ _**You are very right. **__Leave me alone - I'm upset with you. __**Artemis... **_She cut off the All Spark's voice; she didn't want to hear it's voice.

"No, not really, why? What else is there to add?" Mikaela answered for Sam, while he nodded in agreement. _**Decoy, decoy, where art thou? **__You're quoting Shakespeare's 'Romeo, Romeo, Where art thou'? Really? __**I see with my little eye…a decoy!**__ You don't even have an eye! Also, I __**AM**__ still __**hurt**__ from YOUR energy! __**You can do it! **__I feel as though this conversation and your belief in me is a bit one-sided. __**Go, Go, Go! **__Definitely one-sided. __**Let's go Artemis, let's go! **_Artemis paled, Sam and Mikaela looking at her worriedly and then with panic as Artemis started hitting her head muttering 'shut up, shut up, shut up!' and 'get out of my head' and something about going 'off the deep end!' as well as 'acting like a child on a sugar-high!' and 'stop being so convincing!'. There was a just cause for concern.

Concerned chirps made Artemis stop hitting herself, much to the relief of all present, only to be confused on the sudden change in topic as Artemis asked, "Bumbles, do you have any friends with you?"

Almost as if summoned, a line of suspicious looking vehicles approached them, passed them, and then turned and fell into the envoy escorting them to the city. A semi with red and blue flame detail, a black monster truck with smoke pipes, a search and rescue vehicle, and a silver sports car all fell into line and each of mentioned vehicles felt _alive_. "Well, I guess that answered my question…" Her eyes didn't leave the new additions to their rag-tag group even as Sam yelled 'It's Optimus!'

Eyes still not leaving Bumblebee's friends, she asked a quick question. "How long until we reach Mission City?"

"Um, about, let's say…Bee?" And the awkwardness was back!

"One…five…" A child's counting broadcast…interesting. "So about fifteen minutes?" She wanted to make sure. If the All Spark's idea was to work...

An affirmative chirp greeted her ears.

After a minute more of examining the newcomers, Artemis turned her attention to Bumblebee, Sam, and Mikaela. "Out of all your friends here, who's the fastest?"

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><p>AN:

Autobotally45, should you read this, thank you for pointing out my flaw of adding yellow flames to Optimus's paint job. I went and fixed that as soon as I read your review, so thanks!

Everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave me reviews, I love feedback!


	6. Chapter 5

A/N

For everyone that kindly put me and/or my story on your alert and/or your favorite list and for those who have left me a review, once more, thank you so much! It motivates me to write that much better and faster!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Transformers' Universe except my character and plot deviations. Also, a few of my ideas concerning the All Spark have been influenced and inspired by FaeCat's Science and Fiction (Awesome story!)

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

At times, she really hated the All-Spark, and this was definitely one of those times. Decoy it ordered, opps, sorry, not ordered, friendly suggested; fine, she was exhausted, but she could manage letting out some energy, but that agreement did not include _this_.

Jumping vehicles going ninety miles an hour was not in the plan, nor was it her idea of fun, so _why_ did she agree to her apparently insane, ancient friend's suggestion? Ah right, because at the moment she was too damn weak to expend that much of her power and to keep that energy separate from her, so it had to be her, herself, as the decoy. Damn.

Gripping Bumblebee's hood tightly, she waited for the silver car to get close enough so she could just jump in. {Mikaela did mention that Jazz was a Pontiac Solstice, but at the moment, Artemis could really care less about the car model}.

The wind was causing her red mane of hair to violently whip across her face, and at this point in time, Artemis questioned why she allowed the All Spark to convince her that waiting on _top_ of Bumblebee for Jazz, who was going at a very high speed, before jumping into mentioned car, (who was once more, moving at very high speeds) was a good idea. Sam and Mikaela seemed to be convinced she was going to just jump and commit suicide, and even from here she could _feel_ Lennox's stare and his very sour mood that was brimming with an energy just screaming 'you are getting a fourteen month lecture on ways not to give me a freaking heart attack AND I'm telling Sarah!'…yea, the only thing Artemis could truthfully say right now is that she was beyond angry at the All Spark. _Why do you get to stay in Bumblebee with a seatbelt wrapped around your physical form while I'm out here? __**Because you are the decoy for me, so I cannot go with you. Plus, I'm just special. **__I hate you. __**I know love, I know. **__You've been surfing the internet back at the dam again, haven't you? __**I need to do something entertaining when you are angry and refuse to talk to me, there is only so many times you can count every single spark in and out of existence. **__Well, to cure you of your boredom, after this is all over, I promise you I WILL find a way to ensure you get to endure the lecture from Lennox with me, and you will get to join me in whatever punishment Sarah gives me for this stunt! THAT should cure your boredom! __**Artemis, that sounds a bit on the cruel side…**_

A horn beeped and she jumped, fingers locking and curling around the silver hood, and with a flex of the wrist, she swung into the car, heart rate and breathing normal despite the nerve-racking activity. The door which had opened to allow her to jump in closed, locking her in the small vehicle. As the car sped up and separated from the group, a voice startled her into bumping her head on the roof of the car as she was trying to sit in a way that would not aggravate her injuries; they were still trying to close, though at least all bleeding had stopped.

"You okay li' lady?" Concern; that is _all_ she could feel coming from this being she was sitting in. Concern that was only for her was something she had not felt from another in a long time, and it was a dizzying, almost intoxicating experience for her; Artemis had empathy, and at times, when out of practice, she could get lost in another's emotions should they be strong enough, and this bot's emotions could reach the sky. "Artemis?" She shook her head, trying to lock herself back into her own body – now was not the time to become lost. "I'm fine." Her voice was becoming scratchier the more she used it; what had happened in the chamber was still affecting her.

"You sure?" It was so strange that another being, an _alien_ being, was so concerned for her. It was nice.

Jazz would have braked had he not been moving at such high speeds with an injured girl in him. Emotions not his own entered his spark and the emotions were so strong, so pure, that he wondered how the child in him was able to share her emotions with him in such an intimate way. It was not invasive, nor could he say the experience was bad or unwanted, it was merely different. _Gratitude_ and _Reassurance_ streamed gently into his being, and he caught the reason she didn't use her voice, but that didn't stop his surprise and awe of her other way of communication. What else could she do?

An explosion of All Spark energy startled him badly; all his scanners were working on overload trying to find the source…to find it sitting calmly in his passenger seat. With no hint of the cube in him, Jazz was stumped. The high amount of energy was radiating at a constant rate from Artemis, but the cube was with Bumblebee, who just pinged and confirmed that with him as soon as he felt the cube's energy coming from Jazz as well. This would be fine with Jazz if it wasn't for one little detail: Artemis was radiating a much stronger and convincing energy then the cube… well at least he understood why they were the decoy now. A small snickering drew his attention to his passenger, and if his hunch was right, and he knew it was, (and here the snickering increased in volume), Artemis was getting amusement from his mixed emotions. An appearance of fox ears and a tail tickling him proved his hunch right. _I knew I was right!_ Cue the laughing; and then the screech of shock. Wait, screech of shock? "My pocket is alive!" And he was back to the confusion phase.

She was laughing! For the first time in years, she was honestly laughing, and it felt so _good!_ She could have warned him about the All Spark energy, she honestly should have warned him, but his reaction was far too perfect she was glad she didn't! The shock was amazing (she just had to see his reaction to the All Spark energy after feeling his question), his confusion amusing, his placid way of acceptance was interesting, and his 'I-know-I'm-RIGHT!' attitude was hilarious. To feel that guess, turn into an 'I know-you-know' into an 'I-know-you-know-I-know', and to basically feel the words hanging off of those emotions just sent her over the edge. Just as Bumbles could get her to chuckle by emitting a chirp, Jazz seemed to have the talent of making her laugh through use of his emotions.

A vibrating in her pocket shocked her. Her pocket never vibrated and here it was vibrating. It increased, and as the feeling was so strange, she let out a small shriek of shock – what the heck was going on? Glaring at her pocket, her eyes widened at a teeny, tiny fact that she had missed earlier – her pocket was alive and amused at her behavior. Once more, her pocket was alive…alive? A pocket?

"My pocket is alive!" She jumped, and with no seatbelt on, she hit her head once more on Jazz's roof, causing an object to fall out of her 'alive' pocket…an object that was a cell phone? Calmed down once again, she patted the dash board. "Hey Jazz?"

"Yes lil' lady?" He was amused, concerned, and filled with a bit of hope concerning the object in Artemis's hand.

"After this is all over, I am going to sleep for a week, and there is nothing anyone can say or do about that. I just thought my pocket was alive, when it was just this little guy; I need sleep, and I need it now/soon/in a little while/aka: last week." She put the cell in her lap, and almost immediately it transformed and began nuzzling its small head against her stomach.

"How did you get in my pocket little one?" She was whispering now, her throat hurting too much to talk any louder. The little bot transformed back into a cell phone, and a short text messages appeared on the screen in rapid order reading: _You hurt. Slipped in when Bumblebee first held you. Want to protect you. Be with you. Can I stay? Will you stay? _The tiny mech transformed once more and curled into her stomach, the feeling of being content evident to her senses.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Reclining in the seat Jazz had graciously lowered, Artemis closed her eyes and prepared to rest as much as possible – once they entered the city, they'd be alone and completely separated from the group by buildings , cars, people, and enemies. One hand curled protectively around the tiny bot, Artemis relaxed and tried to enjoy the current peace. Jazz…he was flipping emotions from shock, to confusion, to joy, to extremely annoyed (though it wasn't directed at her, to Bumblebee perhaps?), to suddenly protective…a seatbelt wrapped around her, a light squeeze that imitated a hug was given before relaxing loosely against her form.

It was simply not meant to be, her and sleep. A constant poking from a thin piece of metal was continue until Artemis opened her eyes and let out a small questioning noise to the baby bot in her lap; she hadn't even closed her eyes for thirty seconds. Looking in the rear-view mirror when the tiny bot began pointing behind her, she caught sight of the Semi's red and blue paint, and she herself began poking Jazz's dash board. "Jazz?"

"Yes girly?"

"Two questions." Her eyes went back to the semi.

"Ask away!" He was curious and the seatbelt around her tightened as if to prompt her to answer quicker.

"Can you go faster? We need to be far away from everyone to make the enemies believe that I am the real All Spark and not a decoy, so I must slightly order you in a friendly suggested way for the good of all: must go faster!" He did indeed speed up, going from sixty to one hundred in just four seconds; why did it feel as though Jazz was laughing at her?

"Why are you laughing at me?" Damn her own curiosity, why did she always have to know the reasons behind another's emotions towards her?

This time he let out a small chuckle out load, vocalizing his emotions. "You slightly order me in a friendly suggested way? You are a strange child girly! And was that your second question?" He would be smirking at her right now if he was in his bi-pedal form, she could feel it.

"Yes Jazz, I am strange, and no, that was not my second question, it was my third and you kindly just answered it. My second question was directed to those no longer right behind us: who were your friends? And that semi…he felt…" Her voice was breaking even more now, scratchy and painful to use.

Jazz's demeanor softened considerably, and the seatbelt was gripping her in a hug, there was no other word to describe the action other than a hug. "He felt like what? The semi is Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. What is it that you felt from him younglin?" His voice was soft as he questioned her, his curiosity once more soaring. Then, he felt it, the awe she felt at witnessing the power, the kindness, the loyalty, and the strength of their leader witnessed through those golden eyes of hers. It was humbling in a way, to feel an innocent's emotions towards a stranger, to see through their eyes a sight and feeling forgotten amidst the war-torn times. Such a powerful ability this child had, and he had only known her, herself, for less than thirty minutes. He wanted to protect her, and if he was feeling anything close to what Bumblebee felt about the boy Sam, then Jazz could finally understand and appreciate what made Bumblebee allow himself to be captured in an effort to save his charge.

Getting his vocal processors to work again after the wave of emotions and feelings took a minute, but once Jazz collected himself, he began answering the rest of her question, not wanting to comment on what she had just shared with him.

"The other two you saw are also a part of our team. Ironhide is the black GMC Topkick-" "Honestly, just say 'black truck' and I'll be fine for now, give me the car details later." "Okay, the big black truck with the smoke stacks is Ironhide, our Weapons Specialist while the Search and Rescue vehicle, the yellow and green one, is Ratchet, our Chief Medical Officer." A growing sense of discontentment was growing from his passenger, and her stress levels were beginning to rise at an uncomfortable rate. "Arty?"

"When you say Chief Medical Officer…do you mean…doctor?" The fear in her voice was unmistakable, and Jazz was beginning to regret giving her his comrades' functions. He should have realized doctors were a taboo around her; it was painfully obvious that she was also an experiment in the dam, just as Bumblebee would have been had she not interfered.

"Ol' Ratchet would never hurt' ya Arty. As it is, Ratch' is slagged off about how you've been treated and about what happened at the dam when ya helped Bee. Trust me, he might be a grumpy ol' medic, but he is the best there is and would never consider of purposely harmin' ya!" He concentrated all of his belief in Ratchet to her, hoping she was still listening, or watching, or sensing in that special way of hers his emotions.

"Trust a doctor huh? Only wish is to help me? I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard that right before torture began, and the sad thing is that they managed to fool me, as they truly believed they were not going to cause any harm." Her unease, her hurt, her weariness of doctors, and the fear that was associated with anything medical related slowly flowed into him. She looked out the window, closing her connection with him for a few minutes – Jazz couldn't even feel her during that moment in time. He could feel the cube's energy, but the girl herself had seemingly vanished when she broke that connection. Jazz didn't like it; he didn't like it at all. The little mech in her lap was clicking at an alarming rate, Bumblebee was trying to contact him, panicking, asking 'where did she go', and the other bots were questioning if they were attacked, but how did he say she was with him still, but not there? Her presence flickered back into existence, and both he and the other bots relaxed. Though she wasn't constantly projecting her emotions to them, she still had a presence which was made painfully obvious at her little disappearance act – how did she even do that? "I'll try" broke his line of mental questioning, and his immediate response was an eloquent "Huh?"

"I'll try. I will try to trust your medic you feel so sure of, that you believe so much in, before I look at him as I will any other human doctor. Just once, I will put my trust in him, but warn him Jazz, should he ever use a needle or scalpel on me without my conscious agreement, any trust I have or would have for him will be lost forever. Unless it is some emergency where I am dying and he does not have a chance to ask me due to a state of unconsciousness and he immediately tells me what he has done once I were to wake up, I never want a scalpel or needle used on me. Never again. Never again…" Her last two sentences were filled with conviction and a horrible, unspeakable pain. Jazz immediately sent a message to Ratchet concerning her words – he wanted no misunderstanding between his charge and their medic.

"Jazz?" How could she still laugh when she has obviously been through the pit? His respect for her and his desire to protect her only rose, especially when his sensors picked up the small movements she was making, petting and calming the sparkling in her lap. "Ah understand little miss, as does Ratchet. Unless with your permission, Ratch has promised to never use those medical devices on ya." Jazz wisely left out all the curses used to describe the human doctors by Ratchet – he didn't need to cause her any more stress.

She calmed, trusting her instinct that Jazz was indeed telling her the truth. Her eyes turned to focus on the city coming into view before them and all the cars Jazz was swerving and weaving around at a speed of around a hundred and twenty miles an hour

"We are going into a war zone, and many lives will be lost today, right?"

He wanted to lie, to spare her the truth, but he doubted she didn't already know. "You're right Arty." A wave of sadness passed through him, and neither were happy with that truth.

She quieted. They were entering the city limits now and their game of 'keep away' has truly begun.

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><p>AN:

Please leave a review should you have a free moment, I love feedback ^-^ Should any inconsistancies or typos be found, please let me know, I don't always catch everything ;)

Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 6

A/N

I apologize for the long wait for this chapter, I have had a serious case of writer's block to the point I was ready to just start this story over from scratch. Thankfully, I just set this story aside until I didn't feel the immediate urge to delete everything I've written; instead, I have gone back and edited my chapters. (I'm sure I still missed things, and if you find anything that I may have missed, or any mistakes, please either leave me a review or PM me, I enjoy fixing my stories). While this chapter isn't as long as I'd like it to be, once more, I have been fighting a bad case of writers block. Hopefully from here on out everything will just flow out and stop giving me problems. (Yea, I wish.)

As I did go back and edit my chapters, should you re-read the story, you may find a paragraph or two missing, phrases replaced, etc. etc. It isn't anything too dramatic or vital to the story, I'm just warning you now so incase you go back and say 'wait a minute!' you'll know you are not going insane :)

For everyone that kindly put me and/or my story on your alert and/or your favorite list and for those who have left me a review, once more, thank you so much! It motivates me to write that much better and faster!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Transformers' Universe except my character and plot deviations. Also, a few of my ideas concerning the All Spark have been influenced and inspired by FaeCat's Science and Fiction (Awesome story!)

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

Buildings surrounded them, people mulling about the sidewalks and just going on with their daily lives , and yet, everything was about to change in an unpleasant way for these people. It was a shame she had no way to get these people out of here, but with little to no voice, a half-dead appearance, and an alien war heading her way, Artemis had no way of warning the public without scaring them away and causing a mass panic all on her own…somehow she doubted it would help to 'hide' the cube in an area people were already fleeing from.

"Barricade, Starscream, and Blackout are heading this way and just skipping the others; seems your plan is workin' Arty." He decreased his speed and almost slammed on his brakes when two young humans ran out into the middle of the street right in front of him – had he been any other those two teens would probably be dead…A pat on his dashboard was given before his passenger once more leaned back to relax while possible. A light scan of her was given on behest of Ratchet and results revealed truth in the words said to Bumblebee and the kids – her burns were healing at a much faster rate than her cuts. Her electrical injuries, which were visible on her skin due to the branching redness that was the effects of the electrical All-Spark currents, were already fading into a dull, light redness. The second degree burns which had lined her wrists, her waist, her ankles, and neck had been a bright red with bloody blisters upon the removal of the chains; now they had already begun the healing process, skin repairing itself even as he scanned her. The scent of burning flesh clung to her in an unpleasant way, but at least all the dead skin was gone and she was able to move; the burns were apparently thirty-six percent through the healing process, and it had only been thirty minutes now since Artemis had been removed from that chamber. Now if only her cuts would heal that quickly, but at least they were shallow, and not life threatening…A nagging ping brought Jazz's attention to Ratchet, and with one last re-examining of the results from the scan, he sent the data pack to Ratchet. A small hit on his dashboard made Jazz let out a questioning chirp, taking a page out of Bumblebee's book, and a resounding "Ask before you scan" met his audios, the pout clear in her tone that she found the scanning to be an experience she did not much care for.

"Don't like bein' scanned little lady?" Even as Jazz chuckled and teased Artemis, his scanners were working full time on the lookout for any Decepticons.

"Nope, in fact, I really don't like it – it is an invasion of my already non-existent medical privacy." She replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Is tha' the only reason?"

"It tickles in a very unpleasant way – oh shit…" Artemis merely stared at the rear-view mirror in silent horror. "TURN RIGHT, NOW!" Tires squealed and Jazz threw himself into the traffic, thankfully without causing any accidents. Artemis was holding on to her seat as they flew around the corner, one hand wrapped firmly around the little bot in her lap. The missiles were rapidly approaching…

"Why'd ya have meh turn right? Nearly gave meh a spark attack Arty! Why the slag did we-" An explosion behind him caught Jazz off guard, and the screaming amass of people and the jet flying past where they were just located caused him to speed up – they had been found. A mumbled "Never mind" reached her ears just as a helicopter began firing at them from in front.

Artemis shivered as the seatbelt tightened almost painfully to keep her from flying about. She honestly didn't know what was worse, the people's fear or the enemies' bloodlust – both were giving her a migraine and were mentally taking her back to the windowless, concrete, dark, tiny box of a room where she would be left for days without food or water. It was beyond horrifying to be taken to that place again and she had to mentally rip herself away from that room before the door closed and locked on her. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!

Taking a deep breath, Artemis ignored all the sharp turns and braking Jazz was making, all the explosions and screaming, the sound of the copter blades, the engine roar from the jet, all in favor of filtering through her mind and finding all the 'threads' of emotion and thought not belonging to her. Finding the connections, Artemis gently pulled the threads away from her core, releasing them from her mind, when she felt a weak, long-absent connection suddenly grip onto her soul in a tight embrace, and no matter how much she tugged to get the connection to release, it just gripped onto her tighter. It was an emotional and mental connection she had thought long dead.

Tentatively, she slightly tugged on the line, searching for the chord's owner. Turquoise fire surged forth from the connection, feeling, embracing, and examining her; _relief_ and _horror_ played out through their bond when it found her fatigue, pain, and fear, and immediately Artemis began to feel relieved of her pain, the bright greenish-blue fire surrounding her mental self and healing her physical and mental bodies with a sudden burst of energy. It seemed as though the old fox still had a trick or two left if he could heal her from such a distance with their weakened bond.

She wanted to cry and scream at the world for tearing her family apart, to curse the gods for making them believe each other to be dead, for the connection and family member she thought she had lost seven years ago, and yet, she couldn't help but be thankful that she wasn't alone. The turquoise fire, the insistent tugging that was trying to get her to respond, and the shear relief she could feel from that link proved it! Sending _hope_, _reassurance_, _happiness_, and _love_ over their bond, Artemis gently pulled back and dampened the newly awakened bond, once more sending faith that everything will be fine over the bond to relieve the old fox from his growing fear. He was too far away at the moment to be able to come to her aid, so it would be unwise to leave that bond open where he would be able to feel every hit she'll take; she really did not want to send him into a rage. Placing a type of shield, a mirror if you will, around her mind, she ensured she would still be able to reach others with her emotions should she need to, but at least now she will not become distracted by thoughts and feelings not her own.

A sharp turn caused Artemis to bang her head on the passenger window and almost pulled her out of her trance, but she had one more thing to do before she finalized her mental barrier. Searching, pulling, and connecting the emotional and mental threads of the Autobots and human allies to her mind, she ensured she would be able to find them again should they become separated as well as allow her to know if anything happens to them, just as that old fox would now be able to find her should something happen again; they were not going to become separated again.

Barrier up, Artemis retreated from her mind just in time to witness a car being blown up just a few meters in front of Jazz. Her eyes followed its path into the air, its decent back to earth, and its final resting place on top of an expensive looking truck that had thankfully been abandoned by its owner on the opposite side of the street. She cringed, her fox ears folding back as her sensitive hearing couldn't block out the sound of the crunching metal and car alarms going off all at once – it was a cacophony of noise that seemed to ring in her ears even as they passed the scene and turned onto a different street. She rubbed her now scab free, burn free wrists, gently probing a light purple area indicating one of the final stages of healing. Amazed that she felt refreshed with excess energy for the first time in years, Artemis found that even her throat, ankles, and waist felt better; how he managed pour so much healing energy into her within just a few seconds was astonishing, but at least now Artemis stood a good chance of surviving this battle in Mission City. _But something is missing…_

"Jazz?"

"Kinda busy 'ere kid, but what'cha need?" With a swerve to the left and a skid to the right, Jazz avoided making many screaming humans road kill by weaving in and out of the crowds and traffic.

"I thought three enemies were after us."

A police siren was heard on their left, and passing a busy intersection, a sleek police cruiser pulled out behind them, lights on but the siren now off. The Decepticon symbol glaringly obvious next to the police logo as it turned the corner to fall in line behind them.

"Ya just had ta say somethin' girly." A sharp left turn into traffic was made, but the cop car kept close to Jazz's bumper. Not speeding up, not attacking, just following.

Turning in her seat, Artemis rested her eyes on the windshield of the police cruiser silently following them. A flash of silver caught her attention and following it, her eyes traced a small, silver arm waving back and forth at her. Two blue lights, where the head would be, struck a chord within Artemis. She knew those optics from somewhere…A silver bot standing on the fallen body of Stewart staring at her flashed across her memory. Lighting her hand with her green fire, she calmly waved back to her rescuer, who began waving more frantically after seeing her response, as if trying to tell her something important, but all she could get from him emotionally was panic, more panic, and then '_**Big Panic!**_' with some annoyance, loathing, and fear mixed in. The cruiser just felt annoyance, perplexity, anger, and a restlessness that protrayed the need to 'get the hell out of here'.

"Arty? Not ta question ya or anythin', but why are ya waving at the enemy?" Jazz kept his scanners locked on Barricade; the fact Barricade hadn't made any move to attack confused and irritated him. _What the slag is going on?_

"The silver bot in the cop car is the one that saved me Jazz; that silver one with the blue eyes damaged the machine hurting me." Her eyes didn't leave the cruiser even as she lowered her hand back down, the fire around her hand out. The headlights of Barricade's form flashed twice, almost as if in warning, before he braked and speed down a side street, leaving Jazz and Artemis to navigate the city on their own once again.

"Well, that was different." Jazz couldn't agree with her statement more.

That was when she felt it, the bloodlust thick in the air, approaching the city limits at high speeds. A cold chill worked its way down her spine, and she was brought back to an image of a being entrapped in ice, a being that was aware of all, but unable to act upon his wishes. A fire that provided only warmth formed in her hands, and Artemis began rubbing her arms, trying to ward off the memory, because it wasn't just the bloodlust radiating from that thing's form that caused her fear, it was the memory that _he_ had acknowledged her presence, even when she was but twelve, a young kit at the time, and the overbearing knowledge that overcame her as she _felt_ his emotions as he regarded _her_ as _his._ There is no other way to explain it, that feeling of ownership that overcame that frozen tin can when she was forced to be in his hanger for testing purposes, the malicious pleasure that was conveyed to her whenever she screamed in pain, his dark intentions invading her sleep and her few moments of peace, and that tangible thought of '**MINE**_' _frightened her in a way no doctor or scientist was able to cause. And what was she doing right at that moment? She was leading him straight to her by radiating the one thing he wanted more than her powers. She was leading the creature she has feared most since age twelve straight to her location, the creature that enjoys her pain and suffering. _I am __**such**__ an idiot, how the hell did I forget that tiny piece of information when I agreed to this plan? I KNEW I was forgetting something!_ Taking a deep breath, she took one mental step out of her emotion barrier and immediately got thrown right back in by the fiercest wave of anger she had ever experienced.

Needless to say, Megatron was pissed and was ready to utterly slaughter every living being that crossed his path.

"Great. That's just freakin' fantastic."

"Huh?" Poor Jazz, he got to deal with a tired, scared, and now pessimistic teenager who wanted nothing more than to just curl up under the sun and sleep.

A head banging onto his dashboard and a low groan that was issued was the only answer Jazz received.

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><p>AN:

Well, once more, not as long as I wanted it, but it's a good start for the upcoming battle. Please leave me a review if you have a minute, feedback helps me grow as a writer. ^-^

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for reading! (Review please!) (Once more, sorry for the long wait.)


	8. Chapter 7

A/N:

For everyone that kindly put me and/or my story on your alert and/or your favorite list and for those who have left me a review, once more, thank you so much! It motivates me to write that much better and faster!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Transformers' Universe except my character and plot deviations. Also, a few of my ideas concerning the All Spark have been influenced and inspired by FaeCat's Science and Fiction (Awesome story!)

Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

'Don't move' he said. 'Wait here' he commanded. 'It'll be safe here, so just wait until Ah come back for ya' he told her softly. 'Ah hafta help tha others, and ah can't do tha' with ya in me' Jazz had explained to her before taking off.

She was scared.

She did not feel safe as his malicious red optics found her form hiding in the alley. She did not feel comforted as his metal lips twisted in a pleased, self-satisfied sneer. She couldn't even feel hope as his emotions broke through her barrier causing her to freeze in fear.

"There you are my pet." He was leering at her; the malicious smile on his face made her sick.

_Run, run, run, run._Her body wouldn't obey her mind. Artemis felt as if she was twelve again, gazing up at the blood-curling form of Megatron for the first time, his malevolent presence planting the first seeds of fear into her heart. She had been chained then, unable to run. He had been frozen, unable to chase. She let the All Spark energy fade from her, hoping he would turn his attention, his optics, away from her form. She didn't want to be caught, she didn't want to get hurt, and all she wanted to do was run. Run, hide, and find some semblance of peace in her life again.

Apparently Artemis needed rest and lots of it if she was making such foolish decisions. She should have just run and have Megatron chase her without giving away she was misleading him; now Megatron was pissed, his expression turning from pleased to livid. "Tell me where the All Spark is!" He was reaching for her, claws flexing as they approached her body. Her chains were gone now, so why couldn't she move? Yes, his anger was paralyzing and the seeming bleakness of her situation added to her fear, but she should still be able to move and get the hell out of his reach! But she was too late to move.

He shook her back and forth, her body clenched in his hand with only her head and the top of her shoulders free. Megatron's claws and sharp edged digits dug into her deeper with every jerking motion Megatron made.

"Tell me! It's that boy isn't it? Answer me!" Ignoring the mech attempting to shake the answers out of her, Artemis simply agreed with herself to blame Jazz for ordering her to stay put. Yep, for the moment, her current predicament is Jazz's fault.

"This could be so much easier for you should you cooperate; you could even become my favorite pet." The only thing she wanted to do more than run was get put down and call him a delusional, fragging, glitch, an insult kindly recommended by the All Spark when she was fourteen wondering what to call Megatron when she, her twin, and the All Spark felt 'stupid boogie man' did not work well as an insult.

Picking up on her rebelliousness, Megatron squeezed harder, making it difficult to breathe; Artemis mentally thanked the old fox for sending so much energy into healing her as quickly as possible; she would have been unconscious from the pain if he hadn't sent so much raw energy into her.

Artemis was suddenly brought to optic-level with the cone-headed leader of the Decepticons, gold clashing with red in an intense stare-down, fear and defiance shining bright against his anger and irritation.

The only warning she received before being dropped was a thunderous screaming of "PRIME" and the sound of metal being ripped apart. She fell at an awkward angle with the ground rapidly approaching when she was caught midair by a large hand with a firm but gentle grip. Artemis felt herself brought to rest against a red and blue chest, and _safety_ radiated from the spark she was leaning on. Taking in her new surroundings, golden eyes were instantly drawn to the flaming sword in the other hand of her savior and the large slash along the right arm of her childhood nightmare. So fire _could_ hurt Cybertronians if hot enough…

Artemis's hands automatically rose to clutch Optimus's armor as he began to move backwards and her eyes caught the fact that he never turned his back to Megatron who was busy snarling and clutching his damaged arm. The noise that Artemis had been ignoring gained her attention as Optimus stepped on an abandoned car, the alarm and the resulting screams rang in her ears causing them to fold back in an effort to lessen the uproar in her head.

A deep and rich baritone began coming from Optimus's vocal box, most of the words coming from him were of reassurance, but then his hand held her closer to his spark in a more secure grip as he quickly told her to hold on. She felt her center of gravity spinning as Optimus preformed a barrel roll onto another street and her ears rung as explosions rained upon the ground, damaging the street and causing all glass structures on the street to shatter. Through the gaps between Prime's fingers, Artemis caught sight of the one she presumed to be Starscream on top of one of the taller buildings in the area with a rocket launcher following their movements during one of the rolls to avoid the ammunition.

As Optimus came to a standstill his hand uncurled a bit around her, allowing Artemis to get a good look of their location at a four-way intersection. The sound of gunfire reached her ears and Artemis turned her head in the direction her ears directed and found herself witnessing a gruesome scene. Will and Epps were in the front of their men, firing away at a Decepticon with helicopter blades on its back. There were dead and injured all along the streets, both army and civilian. Bumblebee was partially buried under a building with one of his legs seriously injured, cupped in his hands were Sam and Mikaela. Jazz and Ratchet were working together to take down a Decepticon disguised as a tank behind the humans. Ironhide was working together with the Will and his men to take down the Decepticon with the helicopter blades. As Optimus was behind the copter-con, he once more gripped Artemis closely before sending his blade all the way through the back and chest of the con before their presence could be detected. Yanking his blade free, Optimus stepped out of the way still holding Artemis close as the Decepticon fell, dying almost instantly as the blade was removed.

"I'm setting you down now. Be careful." Artemis didn't want to leave the safety his spark sang to her as she rested against his chest, but she cooperated as Optimus moved his hand away and gently lowered her to the ground, next to Sam and Mikaela. Looking up into his blue optics, Artemis sent her gratitude and worry for him as he stood from his kneeled position on the ground. Movement in the corner of her eye grabbed her attention, and she couldn't help but scream a warning to Optimus as a large, unearthly jet sped towards him. Preparing himself, Optimus jumped and grabbed the wings of the jet causing them both to spin out of control. They flew down the street and around a corner out of sight, but the resulting crashes and glass shattering marked their progress through the city.

Sam and Mikaela greeted Artemis with a hug, baffling her considering they had just met. Ironhide rushed to their location, quickly stepping over the three teens to help free Bumblebee from the remains of the building on top of him – the damage to Bumblebee's legs was worse than originally thought; if he were to stand on them, there would be no way that those damaged legs would be able to hold his weight. His frustration and pain distracted Artemis so much she didn't even notice Mikaela and Ironhide wonder off, nor did she notice her Uncle Will come over to speak to her and Sam.

It was too much too soon. Artemis was going from silence to a cacophony of different noises, few people to screaming masses, and few emotions and distractions to emotions so potent she could practically hear the thoughts and words attached to every feeling. It was overwhelming. Artemis startled as she found a hand and blue optics in front of her face, the cube being held out for her to take. Holding it tightly, Bumblebee nodded as if pleased with her actions before pointing over to Sam, and she could feel his plea: _Look after him too._

"I won't let him die." It was the only promise she could give him. She would protect Sam with her life if needed, but she couldn't promise he wouldn't get hurt. It was too chaotic, and she too tired, to promise no injuries. She turned and began to head over to Lennox and Sam.

"Thank you." Artemis jumped and turned to face Bumblebee – it was his real voice she realized with shock. Smiling like a lunatic, Artemis nodded her head. Noticing the opening of his mouth, she quickly added "I will try to be careful too". And he shut his mouth and just chirped happily. Artemis gave a quick wave before turning to Sam and Will; Will was holding Sam up by the front of his shirt, shaking some sense into him. Artemis couldn't help but agree with her uncle's words as she got close enough to hear, there were lives at stake and Sam and she were soldiers now.

Artemis had to let go of her fear of Megatron, had to block out the noise, needed to ignore the death and hurt, and had to focus on her self-appointed mission. Protect Sam and get the All Spark out of here.

Her uncle and Sam turned to face her, realizing she was standing there with them. Her uncle walked up and held her close, a muttered "You're still in trouble missy" reached her ears as he let her go and walked back to his men. Sam was just looking at her, a flare clutched in his fist, and his fear and uncertainty hit her hard.

Taking a deep breath, she thought of their options. Sam didn't look like much of a runner, and she wouldn't be fast enough in her current shape and form to be of any help. Releasing her breath, Artemis looked Sam straight in the eye.

"Will you trust me?" She didn't let her eyes leave his – this was a risky chance she was taking, but it would be the only way she could protect him, but only if she had his complete trust.

"I trust you." He didn't look away, didn't fidget, and didn't stutter. He was telling the truth.

"Good. Then please hold on to these for me." Artemis handed him the cube and reached into her pocket to pull out the sparkling, handing the cell-bot to Sam.

"Okay?" Sam took both gently, tucking the cell into his own pants pocket and clutched the cube close to his chest. He looked up from his pocket to find Artemis staring at him intently, her golden eyes searching for something that she seemed to find a moment later.

"Don't be afraid." Artemis took a few steps back, noting Sam and Bumblebee following her movements closely. It was a shame she couldn't reveal this part of her under better circumstances. Her fox ears perked up and her tail unwound itself from around her waist, puffing up almost automatically at the threat heading towards them in the sky.

"Huh?" Sam's confusion was evident, but Artemis only repeated her earlier statement to not be afraid before she took one more step away. It was then she exploded into green flames, her form completely disappearing from view in the growing fire.

As the fire died away, it was Sam's turn to take a step back. Where Artemis once stood was a fox the size of a large draft horse, red fur matted with tangles and old blood, and it was only the intelligent, familiar golden eyes staring into his own that kept Sam from running away screaming bloody murder. A black paw was raised and placed in front of Sam, her back angled in an obvious sign for him to get on. Taking a step to do so, he was stopped by Mikaela wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"I'm glad I got in the car with you." She gave Sam a peck on the cheek before turning to Artemis who had her full attention on Mikaela. Walking up to the giant fox with little fear, Mikaela also wrapped her arms around Artemis's neck in a hug, mumbling into her fur for them both to be careful. A large head lowered and pulled Mikaela closer in a gesture of friendship, the feeling of hope passing between the two females even as Artemis lifted her head and backed away, ready to go. Sam and Mikaela shared one last hug before Sam climbed up onto Artemis's back, Mikaela handing Sam the cube once he was settled.

Nodding her head to Mikaela and Bumblebee, Artemis gave Sam one last piece of advice before she took off in a brisk run: _Hold on tight!_

While Sam did indeed grip onto her fur tighter than ever, and his legs squeezed her sides so he wouldn't slide off, it was his statement that had her releasing a snort.

"Oh my god, there's voices in my head!"

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><p>AN:

Well, I really hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. It's really hard to write this scene as there are so many different factors to consider in a battle zone, and it doesn't help that I've changed the scene slightly from the movie. (Butterfly Effect! One new character is already changing priorities in the fight.) It will be explained more in later chapters why exactly Megatron wants her as a pet, but let's just go with the fact she was an experiment, the all spark messed with her, and somehow Megatron being the nosy bastard he is got involved and began bugging her. He was aware, but frozen. And yes, I did call him the boogie man. Doesn't it fit? Can't you see him hiding under a kids bed sending nightmare after nightmare, trying to scare the kid into behaving the way he wants? Or perhaps hiding in the closet, with only his red optics seen in the pitch black?

Anyway, once more, I hope everyone liked this update, and please review if you like it, find mistakes, don't like something, are confused by anything, want more details on anything, just please let me know. I really enjoy reviews, they make my day :)

I'll try to have the next chapter up within two weeks if I can't update by Monday the 11th.

Thanks for reading, marking my story as a favorite and for updates, and reviewing my story! It just makes me want to improve every time I update when I find new reviews, people who have marked my story for updates and as a favorite, and those who have just read my story. It makes me happy to know my story is being read ^-^

'Til next time!


	9. Discovering Fire Update

**Author's Note:**

**Hi Everyone! I'm so sorry that I've disappeared for the past five months, but life has gotten extremely busy lately and everything is going crazy. Anyway, this post is mainly to announce that I haven't given up on this story, I just haven't had much time at all to write.**

**For all those who have reviewed, put my story on their alert and or favorite list, and me on their author favorite/update list, thank you! I honestly cannot thank you enough. Whenever I check my email and see those notices, it just makes my day! I can see that people are wondering what Artemis is, and don't worry, everything will be explained, piece by piece, in later chapters. I promise you that :) [I have big plans for this story, just need to time to write it!]**

**As I haven't finished the next chapter yet (lots of fun stuff planned for it), I just wanted to put a teaser of the next chapter up as a thanks for all the reviews I've received; warning, it is a rough draft! Not edited, not fixed up, just part of my overall rough draft (which is still not complete). If anyone notices any grammer and/or spelling mistakes, please point them out! I always seem to miss things that _I  w_rite. I hope everyone enjoys the teaser ****and hopefully I'll have the entire chapter up before the New Year ^-^**

**Review if you have the chance :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Artemis and her family (not including the Lennox family. I do not own them.)**

**Chapter 8 Preview**

Just think; not a half-an-hour ago Sam was questioning Artemis's sanity for car-surfing and car-jumping. Now, Sam was questioning his own sanity.

Large Alien Robots, an all-powerful _cube_, a transforming car that was sort-of his, a secret division in the government, and a fox larger than a draft horse that he was currently hanging onto for dear life. What the _hell_ did Miles slip into his drink? From the corner of his eye, Sam noticed with growing horror a large jet he recognized as Starscream diving straight at them.

Artemis froze mid-run, causing Sam to ram his head into her own from the sudden stop, and just as he was about to scream at her, yell at her, do anything to get her to move out of the way, Jazz seemed to materialize over them, crouched in a protective stance, firing off multiple plasma blasts at the Decepticon.

"Artemis! Sam! Keep going! Jazz and I will cover you." Ratchet appeared to the right of Sam, knocking Starscream away from the fox and rider with a swing of his giant saw. Sam's eyes followed Starscream's decent into one of the numerous buildings on the street while Artemis's head rose to meet Jazz's optics, and within a few brief seconds, a message passed from blue optics to golden eyes. _Go._

It was like a rubber band had been snapped; had Sam not been gripping Artemis's sides tightly with his legs, he would have been thrown off from the mere speed she took off with. As it was, Sam's upper body was thrown backwards, and it was a sheer force of will that kept him from flying off. With his shoulders being bounced off of her hind quarters, it took every ounce of strength to right himself while keeping hold of the All Spark.

Jumping over cars, weaving through screaming masses of people, and avoiding the odd projectile, Artemis raced with new vigor towards the white building, ignoring every shriek Sam let out whenever she jumped.

At an intersection the giant fox stopped once more and both heads, fox and human, turned to their right due to a strange blasting noise only to find Optimus Prime soaring over them; following his movement down the street to their left, they watched with a wince as he rolled to a painful stop at the base of a tall building. Looking back to their right, both gaped at the large form of Megatron rising from his kneeled position with a large gun in hand. As his red glare fell upon them, both shivered in fear as his face twisted from a snarl into a malicious smirk and Sam could feel himself gripping the fur beneath him tighter as the seconds stretched by slowly.

"How kind of you to bring the All Spark to me my pet; for that I may choose not to harm the pest on your back too badly. Now, come. Here." Megatron was back on his feet and walking towards them with brisk steps only to pause mid-step.

Sam could feel the fox beneath him shake, and as a low, menacing growl worked its way out of her throat, he could feel his bones vibrating in time with the growls. Had he not known that she was protecting him, he would have feared for his life; as it was, he was still frightened from the sound, and by the looks of it, even Megatron wasn't expecting such an ominous sound from the fox before him as he was still frozen with his foot in the air. It was that minute pause that allowed the Prime to their left the chance to gain an upper hand on Megatron. With a tackle that would make any football fan proud, Optimus leapt over the All Spark duo and thoroughly distracted Megatron with a full body attack and an extremely satisfying punch to the face that left Megatron dazed.


	10. Chapter 8

_**A/N:**__** For all those who have reviewed, put my story on their alert and or favorite list, and me on their author favorite/update list, thank you! I honestly cannot thank you enough. Whenever I check my email and see those notices, it just makes my day! I can see that people are wondering what Artemis is, and don't worry, everything will be explained, piece by piece, in later chapters. I promise you that :) [I have big plans for this story, just need to time to write it!]**_

_**For the record, this is the true Chapter 8, and you'll find multiple things edited and changed from the preview. (I did warn you! And I really hope everyone enjoys this version better than the preview.)**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Artemis and her family. (Not talking about the Lennox family).I also do not own any anime/manga.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Chapter 8**_

It was funny how the insanity seemed to be spreading; first, Artemis went car-surfing, then she went car-_jumping_, and then she transformed into a _giant fox_. Now, Sam was riding on the back of said fox in the middle of a battle zone with a baby transformer that had decided his head was more interesting than his pocket sometime in the confusion. Nothing really made sense anymore; the world around Sam was changing. Now, compared to his relatively normal life, there were suddenly large _Alien Robots_, an all-powerful _cube_, a transforming car that was sort-of his, a secret division in the government that was apparently experimenting on people and aliens, and a fox larger than a draft horse that he was currently hanging onto for dear life. What the _hell_ did Miles slip into his drink? The sudden stopping motion of the fox Sam was holding onto jerked him out of his thoughts and back into the reality that was war.

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><p>Artemis had frozen mid-run, causing Sam to ram his forehead into the back of her own from the sudden stop, and just as he was about to scream at her, yell at her, do anything to get her to keep moving, Jazz seemed to materialize over them, crouched in a protective stance, firing off multiple plasma blasts at the Decepticon known as Starscream that had been making a dive for the fox, human, and sparkling; the sparkling now attached to Sam's head clicking angrily at the jet.<p>

"Artemis! Sam! Keep going! Jazz and I will cover you." Ratchet appeared to the right of Jazz, knocking Starscream away from the fox, rider, and sparkling with a swing of his giant saw. Sam's eyes followed Starscream's decent into one of the numerous buildings on the street while Artemis's head rose to meet Jazz's optics, and within a few brief seconds, a message passed from blue optics to golden eyes. With a yip from the fox, the sparkling jumped from Sam's head into the waiting hand of Jazz, and it was only when the sparkling climbed up to Jazz's shoulder that Artemis acted on Ratchet's order.

It was like a rubber band had been snapped; had Sam not been gripping Artemis's sides tightly with his legs, he would have been thrown off from the mere speed she took off with. As it was, Sam's upper body was thrown backwards, and it was a sheer force of will that kept him from flying off. With his shoulders being bounced off of her hind quarters and his arms occupied with the cube, it took every ounce of strength to right himself without losing the All Spark.

Jumping over cars, weaving through screaming masses of people, and avoiding the odd projectile, Artemis raced with new vigor towards the white building, ignoring every high-pitched shriek Sam let out whenever she jumped. Her muscles flexed and she was panting heavily, but she had sworn to protect the one on her back so that meant no time to stop and rest. A sudden blast to her right startled her to stop in the middle of a four-way intersection.

At the intersection, both heads, fox and human, turned to their right due to the strange blasting noise only to find Optimus Prime soaring over them; following his movement down the street to their left, they watched with a wince as he rolled to a painful stop at the base of a tall construction. Looking back to their right, both gawked at the large form of Megatron rising from his kneeled position with a large gun in hand. As his red glare fell upon them, both shivered in fear as his face twisted from a snarl into a malicious smirk and Sam could feel himself gripping the fur beneath him tighter as the seconds stretched by slowly.

"How kind of you to bring the All Spark to me my pet; for that I may choose not to harm the pest on your back too badly. Now, come. Here." Megatron was back on his feet, gun put away, and was walking towards them with brisk steps only to pause mid-step.

Fear flooding through Sam into Artemis made her fall back on instincts she had thought long since buried. Instincts, passed on by her mother's blood and spirit, **_screamed_** that she protect her new pack-mate, and that she **_eliminate_ **the threat that caused such distress in the one she had chosen to protect. The spirit within, the _beast_ of fire created from the image and instincts of both wolf and fox that made up her soul, rose to the surface, it's only intent to protect the one pulling on her fur like a pup in need.

The change from shy and fearful transport to serious protector was almost immediately obvious as the red fur on Artemis's neck began to bristle and the long tail trailing behind her rose and puffed up in a clear threat. Her ears laid flat against her skull, Artemis's lips rose in a fierce snarl; sharp teeth parting ever so slightly as if ready to bite with red and yellow flames being exhaled with every breath. Bright orange flames arose around the black nimble paws, dancing in the breeze, circling her form with an ancient, deadly promise. The sight might not have stopped Megatron, but the eyes that went from gold to glowing dark red with no pupil or white to be seen caused him to pause momentarily before he took another step.

It was then that Sam could feel the fox beneath him shake, and as a low, menacing growl worked its way out of her throat, he could feel his bones vibrating in time with the growls. As the heat from the flames below him caused his heartbeat to dramatically increase, he took a deep breath and carefully moved his legs and body to lie atop of Artemis, lessening his chances to get burned. Had he not known that she was protecting him, he would have feared for his life. What amused Sam though, was that he was not the only one affected by the sound that couldn't be mistaken for anything but a clear threat and deadly promise. Megatron clearly wasn't expecting such an ominous sound and threat from the fox before him as he froze with his foot in the air, and nearby pedestrians that foolishly stayed to watch the fight took off in terror. (Why they run from a fox and not a giant evil robot with obvious destructive powers was beyond him. Sure, there's the whole fire, and other-worldly size of the fox, and the menacing growl to factor in, but still, it's still clearly a FOX! A cute [scary], fluffy [bloody and tangle matted fur], and harmless [obviously dangerous] fox! Sam just supposed that robots were more socially acceptable then larger than life animals. He blamed anime and manga for this odd occurrence as he felt he needed to blame something in this stressing environment.)

It was that minute pause where Megatron was distracted and Sam was contemplating the oddities of humanity that allowed the Prime to their left the chance to gain an upper hand on Megatron. With a tackle that would make any football fan proud, Optimus leapt over the All Spark duo and thoroughly distracted Megatron even further with a full body attack and an extremely satisfying punch to the face that left Megatron dazed.

It was only when Megatron began to fight back did Artemis calm down and let the fire and instinctual beast fade back into her soul. Walking slowly, Artemis allowed Sam the chance to get back into position before she took off once more in a brisk trot. Jumping over a black truck, Artemis became alarmed when the weight on her back disappeared. A shriek of outrage and a grunt of pain reached her ears as Sam landed on the hood of the truck, the cube sparking and giving life to the machine.

"_**Oops. My bad; didn't intend for that to happen."**_ The All Spark's voice resounded in Artemis's mind, tone flat and unapologetic. Artemis released a snort in disbelief and annoyance as the new bot started to attack the screeching female driver and the other two passengers inside.

_::Sure, I believe that:: _Walking around the truck, Artemis grabbed the neckline of the back of Sam's shirt gently with her teeth and hauled the groaning teenager up. Lowering herself closer to the ground so Sam could get back on, her tail swung and wacked the bot in an effort to get it to behave. As Sam struggled to get on, Artemis struck the truck again with an burst of annoyance and her tail until it released the screaming passengers and settled down.

"_Sam, what is taking so long? Hurry and get on!"_ The voice in Sam's mind was practically a whine, and looking at her, Sam truly accepted the fact that he was hearing her voice in his head. Artemis was fidgeting too much, fur on end and muscles twitching as she observed the destruction around her that it couldn't have been anyone or anything else to have that tone in his mind. Random explosions behind her caused her ears to swerve in odd motions, and with every gunshot she flinched, shifting her weight from paw to paw making it extremely difficult to try to pull himself up with one arm.

"Stop moving! I can't climb up and hold the All Spark at the same time! It's too bulky!" Frustrated and scared, Sam's hand couldn't seem to get a good enough grip on the silky fur to pull himself up.

The new bot nudged Artemis gently, and it was then that her mind cleared from the surrounding distractions. Reaching her head back and taking the cube from his surprised arms into her jaws, Artemis quietly freed Sam of his burden. "_Sam, climb onto the truck and use it as a stepping block if you need to; just hurry!"_ Turning her head up, Artemis tried to juggle the cube into a better position as its size made it uncomfortable to keep ahold of. A sudden sparking of the cube made Artemis release a yelp though she didn't drop the cube.

"_**Perhaps I can help you a bit here."**_ It was then that the cube began shifting pieces again, turning into an even smaller, more manageable size, fitting easily in her mouth.

_::You! That __**hurt**__!:: _Artemis was still whining in pain, though Sam was oblivious to the event that just happened. The bot that Sam was currently standing on flashed its headlights repeatedly as if to get Sam's attention before giving up and extending one of the headlights to nudge Artemis, seemingly in a gesture of comfort.

"_**You'll be fine child, and regardless of the tiny shock, I helped, did I not?"**_

Artemis was loath to agree even as her jaws closed completely, the cube resting under her tongue. _::I'll be able to get you out even if I accidently swallow you, right? And nothing would happen to me if I were to swallow you, correct?::_

"_**You could. Do not worry so much, even if something were to happen, it would not be bad if you were to swallow my current vessel. Now focus on your surroundings dear, your human has been situated on your back for a good minute."**_

Standing now that Sam was once more on her back, Artemis gently prodded the bot before her with her head before taking off once more; this time going around the vehicle to prevent another incident.

"Artemis, wait! Stop!" Sam's voice flitted through her ears, and hearing the panic, she came to another abrupt stop.

"_What is wrong?"_ Her ears were focused on Sam, waiting for his reply. His insistent tugging on her fur to go back in the direction they just left was not lost on her.

"I **LOST** the cube! We gotta go back! Back now, go back!" Sam was in full panic mode, body shaking, hands still tugging on the fur beneath him. Startled when Artemis began moving once more, and not back in the direction they just came from, Sam started to really pull on the red fur, almost ready to jump off the running fox.

"_Sam, CALM DOWN! I have the cube, I took it from you, remember?_ _I have it, so please release your death grip on my fur!"_

"Oh. OH! Right, sorry, I didn't…I mean…yea…" Sam trailed off, calming down before his eyes landed on a site in front of them. "Hey! There's the building! To the right!" Patting Artemis on the shoulder, Sam was once more hyping himself up, eyes focused on the statues that lined the roof.

Heading for the white structure, black paws moved quickly over cracked pavement, and as Artemis was only a few meters away it was a glint she saw in the corner of her eye that caused her to brake suddenly, paws skidding on the concrete in an attempt to stop even as she reached the base of the building. Skidding and turning around with Sam barely on her back, she high-tailed it away from the building as a rocket blast connected with the tall, abandoned construction, causing an explosion of concrete and glass. Cackling reached her ears from one of the roofs above her and she barely noticed when a familiar plasma weapon hit the laughing jet off the building as she raced to avoid the falling projectiles of cement and glass.

Tripping over a piece of debris, Artemis's fall sent Sam flying over her back even as she went into a series of rolls, skidding to a stop only after hitting a curb. Losing consciousness as a stray brick struck her head Artemis fell into the dark, her mind no longer conscious of her surrounding after Sam's scream reached her sore ears.

She was so tired.

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><p><em><strong>AN: Well, here is Chapter 8! I really hope everyone enjoyed it! I apologize for another late and short update, so instead of giving everyone a month that I'll have the next chapter up, I'll just say that I'll get it up as soon as I can. I had to cut this chapter short as I became stuck on a certain scene, and couldn't word it properly, which is causing a major road-block for the rest of the Mission City Arc.**_

_**Well, I hope everyone enjoyed, and please leave reviews if you have the time. I love feedback, so please let me know if you like/hate/see something wrong/see something that needs more detail/grammar/whether I made a scene too confusing, etc. Any and all feedback, positive or negative, helps me grow as a writer, and so, I ask that you please comment. **_

_**Thank You! **_

_**-'til next time! ~~AiriiSpade**_


	11. Chapter 9

_**A/N:**__**For all those who have reviewed, put my story on their alert and or favorite list, and me on their author favorite/update list, thank you! I honestly cannot thank you enough. Whenever I check my email and see those notices, it just makes my day!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Artemis and her family.**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 9<strong>_

"_Artemis!" _ '_An unfamiliar voice; do I know you?' _She wanted to stay; forever remain in the darkness that surrounded and caressed her torn soul, to ignore the noise and disregard the desperate words echoing in her ears.

"_**Otupi, get up! You. Must. Get. Up."**_ A voice from the past harshly nudged her mind into semi-awareness. Turquoise fire disrupted shadows she hid her mind in, lighting her surroundings and coaxing her to respond, to wake._'I know you, but where are you?' _Softly pushing at the physical fire in her mind-scape, she couldn't decide whether to embrace him or push him and the light he brought away; she was just so _tired._

"_**I'm close, but you must move." **_Those words, however tenderly put, were all she needed to retreat away from the light. _'To move is to wake. I am content here in the dark.'_ And that clearly wasn't what he wanted to hear.

The fire exploded in her mind, twisting and expanding until it formed into an intimidating fox with glowing gold fire for eyes. His power so strong, he removed her from the black abyss she created and brought her to his own creation of blue skies, strong winds, and grassy plains all within _her own mind_. He towered above her with his fur of turquoise fire shifting with his wind, his unwavering stare ancient and strong, and she just felt so _small_, so _young_, and so _**weak **_that all she wanted then was to run to him and hide behind him_**. **_Was it sad she craved the protection and safety this ancient creature has given her in the past with a painful longing? Her spiritual body collapsed, her red fur mingling with the greens and gold of the grass, and her entire body displayed the defeat she felt from her lowered ears to her lack-luster tail. Whimpering, she placed a paw over her eyes, ignoring the now growling form above her. She didn't want to wake, didn't want to leave the safety this place and his presence offered. Again she heard the shout of her name in her physical ears and again she dismissed it. She wanted to stay _here_ but her grandfather's insistent nudges were telling her that there was safety in waking.

"_**Otupi!"**__ 'Granddaughter, Granddaughter you cry. I want to obey, but I'm just so tired Poppi, do you not understand?'_ But he did understand, with a clarity that did not surprise her. Her grandfather was anything but a fool, and she knew that _he _knew why she wanted to grasp her unconsciousness in an unbreakable hold, and that is exactly why his snout gently nudged her cheek in encouragement as physical hands from the waking world wove into her true fur, trying to shake her out of this obscure hiding place. Her grandfather left her mind then, his fire gone but the field remaining, his presence still strong.

**Wake up. **_'Why must you always ask this of me? Why persuade me to wake?' _An undesirable sensation came then, shocking her into obedience, forcing her eyes open even as she whimpered in pain, her mouth stinging.

Her eyes opened to a boy, bleeding and wounded, leaning over her as he attempted to shake her awake. Was this the image her twin saw in his last moments alive? A desperate, injured silhouette? '_How saddening a sight.' _Her eyes, heavy and dim, shut in a last-ditch effort to remain blissfully oblivious to the waking world, trying to return to the windy field her Poppicreated.

"_Artemis? Artemis!" _Unfocused golden eyes scanned the surrounding area, registering the ruined street and the half buried bodies of innocent civilians caught in the disaster. Focusing on the boy hovering over her body, her cloudy eyes registered the concerned little grin on his face as she met his eyes.

"Artemis!" She shook her head, rolling her body so she was situated comfortably on her stomach rather than her understandably sore side. Giving the boy her full attention, his name came back to her as he started to position himself to help raise her up to her unsteady paws.

Opening and closing her jaws, she actually _hissed_ in displeasure at the pain. Glaring at Sam in askance, his worry and confusion was clear in his voice as he easily picked out the question she was asking.

"Your mouth was sparking for a good five minutes. I tried opening your mouth to grab the cube but nearly got myself electrocuted instead; I got shocked pretty bad." And indeed he did get shocked; his hands, red and twitching, were displayed for her.

Shaking her head, Artemis attempted to stand on her own, but fell within seconds. The next ten minutes, so painfully long, were a struggle as Sam leaned into her uninjured side to try to support her weight. The joy of succeeding in the simple accomplishment of standing on all four paws was quickly, so very quickly, demolished into dread and defeat as her legs trembled and she fell, unable to support her own weight. Spitting out the cube, Artemis nudged Sam away from her and towards the All-Spark, ignoring his stricken expression. She nudged him harder, causing him to fall to his knees before the smaller cube, and became more insistent and forceful until Sam finally picked up the ancient artifact.

Had she not been so tired and wounded, had this been another time and place, had there not been a war occurring around them, perhaps Artemis would have had the freedom and will to laugh at Sam's momentarily disgusted face as he attempted to keep his grip on the saliva covered cube.

Heavy foot falls reached her ears, and she couldn't help the fear she felt. Taking a look behind her, she quickly turned her head back to Sam, catching his attention with a small whine.

Struggling to stand once more, she nudged him away. Eyes meeting, she let him see her fear. "_Run Sam! Go!"_

He hesitated. _**"GO!"**_ He ran.

Dark chuckles sounded behind her just as she attempted to leap off and follow Sam, only to be grabbed mid-air. Then she was staring into those frightening, narrow red optics yet again.

"_Hello Pet." _It was disgusting the way he purred to her, as if she truly was just a favored, unintelligent, mindless little pet.

"_Go jump in a fire and die Cone-head." _

"That is an incorrect greeting, pest." The grip on her body tightened.

"_How did I get upgraded from pet to pest?"_

And…there is the crushing pain._ Damn you, Megatron__**.**_


	12. Chapter 10

_**A/N: **__**For all those who have reviewed, put my story on their alert and or favorite list, and me on their author favorite/update list, thank you! I honestly cannot thank you enough. Whenever I check my email and see those notices, it just makes my day!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Artemis and her family.**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 10<strong>_

Elation. Fear. Relief. Distress. Anger. Concern. Sorrow.

A concoction of emotions, all volatile, switching each and every second and he could do nothing to stop them. He did not even want to attempt to stop them. His granddaughter, one of his precious grandbabies, alive! He could _feel_ her. The bond that had been so cold and dark was pulsing with life so _brightly_ once more within him, and as his connection with her stabilized and grew stronger, his distress and anger intensified to dangerous proportions. He mentally gripped their bond and sent wave after wave of raw power to heal her multiple injuries, feeling some of her pain fade before he retreated from his mind and began to run.

She was hurt, scared, _**and damn it, why wasn't he there?!**_

Within this wild, free realm, he was safe to transform without the fear of discovery by humans, and so, turquoise fire promptly engulfed his form, expanding and growing until finally a fox burst out of the flames, shoulders and head easily clearing the top of the canopy he had previously been resting beneath. Red fur bristling, he leapt over the small section of the forest and raced for the nearest entrance to the human realms, not pausing even as others called for his attention and questioned his haste. He couldn't stop; he refused to be too late again. He _couldn't_ lose any more of his family.

A grim, out of place smile appeared on his fox-face. That silly little kit of his was always trying to prevent herself from causing anyone any worry, but attempting to block him from her pain only caused him more distress, because it always meant she had something to hide.

Her unadulterated fear flew into him despite her attempts to shield herself, and it hurt him that she was so terrified. She was young, far too young to be feeling emotions so intense. The mind-numbing terror she felt spurred him even faster, and he leapt for the doorway leading into a heavily polluted world.

Then he was falling. With a quick flare of his energy, his black paws landed him safely on a large cloud; his energy prevented him from going through collected water vapor and the formation of the cloud hid all his bright red, white, and black fur from potential witnesses.

Golden eyes narrowing, he raised his black snout and tried picking up his granddaughter's scent, his black-tipped ears flickering back and forth listening for her voice in the wind. Growling with irritation, his long red tail swiped through the white substance preventing him from falling to the earth. Lowering himself, all his muscles twitched in preparation for another leap; he was still a good distance from Artemis.

The bond suddenly dimmed and he panicked, reaching for her as she fell into unconsciousness.

Calling, nudging, and encouraging her to wake up was difficult, and he understood that she was tired, and hurt, and emotionally drained but he **had** to wake her; the fear that paralyzed her earlier does not come from being in a safe environment. She tried pulling away from him, and though that saddened him, he sent his fire to banish the shadows she hid her mind in, trying to make her understand that he wanted her safe, even if safe unfortunately meant awake. He leapt again and again, closing the distance between them. Explosions and gunfire reached ears as he finally left her mind, feeling the bond brighten once more with her consciousness.

His eyes met with a disturbing site down below the clouds. War. Robotic organisms he had not laid eyes on in centuries fighting with and against each other and the humans. Scanning the scene, he leapt down, landing on two different buildings to support his weight as he allowed his eyes, ears, and nose scan the streets for any hint of Artemis. Her blood quickly drew his attention to one of the humans garbed in military gear. Eyes narrowing in recognition, gold met widening hazel. _William. _The blood was perhaps two hours old, and there wasn't much so that eased some of his worry. Ears twitching, he picked up William's voice over the clanging metal, the gunfire, and the screams. Nodding his head to the familiar face, he jumped over the street and onto the next set of tall buildings to get a closer viewpoint of the surrounding area, heading in the direction yelled to him.

The roaring voice snarling "Prime" caught his attention, and the following screech of pain accompanying the roar had him seeing red. There around the corner of the street, clutched in the silver claws of a corrupted large bot, _crying out in pain_ was Artemis. Fresh blood was leaking through the creature's hand, slowly making its way down due to gravity. As the first drop hit the ground, so too did he. The red and blue mech in front of the one slowly crushing his kit froze in his approach to the corrupted one as his blue optics registered him.

The silver fool had yet to realize the threat behind him, and began taunting the red and blue mech now identified as Prime, having believed that the pause in attack was an acknowledgement of defeat. Meeting the blue optics, golden eyes slowly looked down to the hand crushing a much smaller fox, back to the optics, then once more back to his kit. Prime gave a miniscule nod to show he understood, and with that acknowledgement, he allowed his instincts to take control. There was a clear threat to his family standing obliviously in front of him, and he was going to _tear_ that threat _**apart**_.

A deafening growl escaped him, gold being replaced with red fire. The startled silver one jumped, releasing the kit to fall into the extended hand of the quickly responsive Prime. Turning, red optics clashed against optic-level red fire-filled eyes, and it was only when the Prime moved out of the way with Artemis that he attacked his prey.

The step backwards the corrupt one took in shock was all that was needed for him to leap and attach his fangs around his head, his claws into his chest, and to push him to the ground. Allowing his front paws to become immersed in a deadly red fire, he began _digging_ into the chest, tearing metal away from his prey with every swipe of his claws. Hands equipped with claws started tugging at his thick fur, pushing and attempting to throw him away, legs attempting to kick him off, but he was determined to destroy the threat to his kit, to his _injured_ kit, and with that thought, he became completely surrounded by his fire, heating the metal form beneath him to temperatures that made it even easier to tear into his prey. With three hard yanks he was able to rip the head between his fangs completely off the shuddering metal body. Crushing it between his jaws, gears and glass fell loose to the ground, the metal wailing in protest of the action. Though the prey was dead, his paws did not stop digging, nor did his fire stop burning the still form. It was only when his paws hit the black pavement through the hole that stretched from chest to navel that he ceased his attack. The metal beneath him was now just that, scrap metal, destroyed beyond the point of being able to identify what _once was._

As his anger faded and his fire turned from an inferno of red to gentle wisps of blue, the silence of his surrounding assaulted his ears, releasing him from his instinct-driven trance.

Hackles rising when he saw he was surrounded by both humans and bots, his fur slowly settled as he realized no one was aiming a weapon at him. Intelligent move on their part, to not display they were a possible threat.

As he made eye contact with Prime and caught sight of the red limp form cradled in his hands, he stood tall and proud and unclenched his jaws, releasing the crushed head of his fallen opponent from his fangs.

The clang of the mutilated head echoed hauntingly in the newly quiet streets.


End file.
